


Who's Cas?

by Meg_B678



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Fledgling Castiel (Supernatural), Supernatural - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:07:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 27,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27703900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meg_B678/pseuds/Meg_B678
Summary: This is about Castiel getting hit with a deaging spell and the boys have to take care of him while they look for the witch. As a side effect of the spell, Cas starts to lose his memories and reverts back into a fledgling.*I do not own the characters from supernatural*It's not really set in any kind of season, Bobby's still there at his house but it's long after the apocalypse, I even have Claire there too. It's just sort of on it's own, not following any story of the show
Comments: 4
Kudos: 25





	1. Chapter 1

"Get down" Dean pushed Sam to the ground just before the witch zapped them. Cas was right, she was very powerful. Why didn't they take his advice and stay out. Dean pulled Sam up, "Go, go" He pushed him towards the door but their feet got stuck. The witch must have cast a spell on them because neither of them could move their feet. She got ever closer. Her dark brown hair fell down one shoulder and her even darker lips curved into a smile as she approached them. She raised her hand and stroked down the side of Dean's face, his stubble feeling rough under her touch,

"Well, you are pretty. I'll give you that" She said. Her voice sounded sweet and soft despite her dangerous appearance, "But I'm more interested in the other member of your trio who often appears to save you" As if she had timed it, the boys heard a flutter of wings. Cas appeared behind her. She hadn't turned to him, like she didn't even hear him,

"Well, be careful what you wish for" Dean replied as Cas came up behind her to smite her. However she turned swiftly, laying her lips on his cheek. He froze as she got even closer to whisper into his ear, trailing a smudge of deep red lipstick across his cheek. Dean didn't know what she said but once she was finished, the angel fell to the ground unconscious. By this time, Sam managed to reach across the hallway and grab his gun. When she looked up from the angel with a smile, she turned to them and the smile dropped as Sam shot her in the chest. She froze. Sam shot again and she fell, releasing both boys from the spell but whatever she did to Cas didn't reverse itself. Dean bent down to shake him awake, "Cas? Buddy you ok?" When there was no response, he shook a little harder. Still no response, "Here Sam, help me get him to the car" Dean took one arm, Sam took the other. They managed to get him back to their motel room and laid him on the closest bed.

"She really put the whammy on him" Sam said,

"Yeah. Mr comatose is back" Dean muttered. The pair took out some beers. They had closed another case but they kept glancing to Cas. He didn't wake up for hours. Finally, Dean grew impatient and splashed cold water onto his face. Cas's eyes shot open, "Morning sunshine" Dean replied. Cas sat up slowly. He furrowed his eyebrows,

"The witch?" He asked,

"Dead" Dean replied,

"How long was I out?"

"A couple hours. How are you feeling?"

"I feel strange" Cas replied, "I feel... drained"

"Tired?"

"No, my grace it's depleted somehow"

"Depleted?" Sam asked, sitting up in his chair, "How? We didn't see her do anything more than kiss you"

"And whisper into your ear. What she say?"

"It was enochian" Cas replied, "I've never heard a spell like that before, she must have been more powerful than I thought"

"And the spell, you think that messed with your grace?" Dean was leaning against the wall with his arms folded. Cas nodded, "How bad is it?"

"Not bad. It's enough for me to notice but... I don't think it will affect any of my abilities" He flinched a little. His hand went to his head, "I should be going now"

"Wait Cas" Dean started but Cas had disappeared by then, "What the hell was that about?"

"Angel radio" Sam guessed,

"Probably" But they didn't see him for weeks. The pair tried to ignore it but eventually Dean started to pray, "Hey Cas, uh, how are you?" He opened one eye awkwardly and saw his brother shaking his head at him, "Ok, listen, we haven't heard a peep in weeks now and we're a little worried. We're in Jasper, Indiana, please pop by" When he opened his eyes, there was no sign of the awkward angel anywhere. Dean seemed a little disappointed but if anything, more worried. Cas always answered his prayers so for this radio silence to continue must mean that something is wrong. They decided it best to just get some rest and see about tomorrow.

There was a knock at the door. Dean opened his eyes, moving to the clock, 6am. After a pause, there was more knocking. Dean took his gun and opened the door a crack. He looked up but saw no one. Until a small noise moved his gaze down to a young kid, maybe ten years old. He had dark messy hair and his bright blue eyes looked very familiar. He furrowed his eyebrows at the kid and peeked his head out to see if his parents were close by. There was no one else around, "Are you lost kid?" He asked. The young boy was wearing clothes that were way too big for him,

"No, you called me" The kid replied with confusion in his voice,

"There must be some kind of mistake" He said,

"No there isn't. You prayed to me Dean so I came" The boy continued,

"Cas?" Dean eyed him suspiciously,

"Yes" The kid confirmed,

"How'd you...?" Dean started. A cold breeze blew by the motel and he realised Cas was actually shivering, "Come in" He invited his friend in, "Sam, wake up" Dean flicked the lights on and squinted until he adjusted to it. Sam groaned, "Sam, Cas is here" Sam just grumbled. "With a twist" Dean spotted rings of bruises around Castiel's wrists like he'd been held down. That wasn't a good sign. Who could hold down an angel?

"With a what?" Sam sat up and looked at the kid, "Why is there a ten year old in our room?"

"Yeah, I know. Cas, could you explain this" Dean asked,

"Remember the witch that knocked me out. You said you killed"

"Yeah"

"It turns out she's not actually dead"

"You saying she did this to you?" Dean asked. Cas nodded, "How? She knock you out again?"

"She summoned me" Cas replied, "With the part of my grace that she had extracted from me last we met. She kept me in enochian bonds"

"How did you escape?" Sam asked,

"After she did the spell, my vessel shrunk. I could slip out of them. I wasn't able to get far. I managed to fly to Indiana but I wasn't able to get to you, that's why I was late"

"Did this spell then, does it affect you too or just your vessel?" Cas just shrugged,

"I don't even know what spell she used, it was some kind of potion" Cas started to shiver again. The window was open and the breeze came in. Neither hunter felt the breeze much. In fact they welcomed it so they wouldn't overheat in the room but they did notice Cas shiver at it,

"You cold?"

"I'm fine Dean" Cas said but he was still shivering. Eventually Dean just closed the window,

"Clearly it is affecting you in some way" Sam said, "Do you sleep now?"

"I've never slept before, I don't see how I would now, even if my vessel is smaller"

"You look tired" Dean replied, "Actually exhausted"

"Is that what this heavy feeling is?" Cas asked. Both hunters looked at each other and nodded,

"Cas, you take my bed, I'll start research into this witch" Sam said now fully awake,

"Ok" Cas nodded. He got up and lay awake on the bed, clearly not knowing how sleep works. Dean rolled his eyes and pulled the sheets over Cas,

"Close your eyes, relax. You'll fall asleep in no time" He said and his friend took his advice and he fell asleep. The hunters kept an eye on him and went on quietly with their research. Cas had never actually slept before. Sure he's been knocked out but that was very different. He was actually dreaming. It wasn't pleasant but it was a whole new experience. This dream set him in that house again. The one he'd tried to confront the witch at but this time, he was bound in a chair. His arms were tied to the arms of the chair with chains. Something felt off about him. There was a ringing in his ears and it was an effort to move his head as he peered through the windows at the dark, cloudy sky outside. He looked down and noticed a small blood stain on his coat shoulder, the pain felt localised to one area on the back of his head. As his vision started to clear and the ringing was going down, he heard a voice. He winced noticeably when he heard it echo through his head. His vision again blurred out of the pain and he had to focus on the voice. It sounded like Dean, "We're in Jasper, Indiana. Please pop by" He shook his head clear as the voice disappeared and he could now focus on his current predicament. He looked down at the chains that were bound at his wrists and when he pulled at them, enochian warding glowed, pinning him down. He could hear mumbling and looked over to see the witch. Her face was contorted in concentration as she sprinkled a few green leaves into a bubbling yellow mixture she was stirring. Her focus was off Castiel though he couldn't seem to free himself. He tried to pull again at the chains, harder but they just tightened more, making his hands feel numb. He wasn't getting out of them any time soon. She mashed a few more ingredients together before adding it to the mixture. Her grey eyes darting to the book in front of her and she mumbled something about having too much yarrow. The heat from the pot radiated to Cas and he studied it, trying to figure out what she was making, identifying more ingredients as she added them. Finally she deemed the mixture finished, taking the time to smile at her work and take a sniff of the spoon she brought close. She eventually turned her attention to Cas who had his head tilted at her, staring back at her with this bright blue stare which made her smile more. Hey, who said she couldn't admire her capture victims too? She filled a bottle of the liquid and put it in her pocket for safe keeping. She then took another spoon and wandered over to Castiel,

"Open wide" She said. Cas leaned back in his chair as she came close. Before he could stop her, she forced it through his tight lips and into his mouth, sealing it shut with her hand. Cas struggled to spit it out but she kept his mouth shut, raising his chin to force him to swallow it. Once she let him go, he spat out whatever he didn't swallow and she sighed, "Not on my rug" She nodded down at the yellow liquid sinking into her carpet, "Trust me, you'd rather more of this stuff than less" She took up the book that had been resting against the lamp, "Yeah, potentially dangerous in small doses. Side effects include soul being crushed, mental trauma and violent outbursts" She shook her head, "I'm gonna give you another spoon just in case"

"No-" Cas tried to protest but she'd managed to shove another spoon into his mouth and made him swallow more. Again he spat out the rest, this time missing the carpet,

"Trust me, this will all be over soon" Her tone was soft but it wasn't patronising. She sounded like she almost cared. She finally released his chin again and turned away to start tidying up, leaving Cas on his own. He sat there in complete silence for a while, the only noise was the ticking clock on the wall. Then he felt a strange sort of feeling. He felt his vessel shrinking, his grace being pushed down as the space in the vessel decreased. Cas let out a soft groan in pain as his grace was almost crushed in the small space. As his wrists shrunk, he could slip them out of the chains and he went to get up but fell at his feet with a thud. Surprisingly his legs felt weaker. The noise brought the witch back, "Oh, I didn't realise it would happen so quickly" She rushed over from behind the counter in her kitchen, "No!" Cas flew out as soon as he could before the witch could utter another word to keep him there.

Cas woke up. He could see light behind his eyelids but they still felt heavy. There was a feeling deep within him. A familiar feeling, a cramp. His grace was restless as it was folding into itself at the lack of space. Cas groaned at the feeling, his own breathing increasing a little as his body unconsciously curled into a ball at the cramping feeling. He silently begged it to stop, letting out an audible whimper and clenching the sheets under his hands. He knew if he didn't do something, there was going to be some kind of outburst and that could be dangerous for both him and whoever was around him. He writhed in his bed until he felt a warm hand on his shoulder and he opened his eyes. He was met with a familiar face but he didn't know where he'd seen it. Green eyes stared back at him with a look of slight worry. The light bounced off his skin to illuminate delicate freckles scattered across his face. He furrowed his eyebrows at Cas who was still staring at him in silence.

"Cas you ok?" His voice was calm with a rough, southern drawl. Cas noticed his eyes look down at the bed and noticed his hand was still clenching the sheets and his other arm was curled around his stomach, "Are you sick?" Cas definitely knew this person, clearly personally considering the amount of concern the man had for him but it took him a while,

"Huh?" Cas finally sat up and realised there was another man in the room with much longer brown hair. Despite being hunched over a computer, Cas could tell he was tall on how his legs splayed out from the chair rather than folding naturally under him. The man sat back in the chair with a disheartened sigh, before noticing he was being watched. He looked at them,

"What?" That face. Cas knew that bitch face. That could only belong to Sam Winchester which would make the man next to him Dean. He looked back at them both. Yes, he recognised them now. Everything was fine now until another wave of pain came over him. This time he groaned audibly, lying back down,

"Cas? What's wrong? What's going on?" Dean nudged him but he didn't react. Cas needed to release some kind of pressure or he felt he was going to explode. He rolled off the side of the bed, still curled in a ball and landed on the floor at Dean's feet, "Sam, little help?" Dean got down to help Cas up, picking him up just under his arms. Cas's legs still curled to his chest. Dean had no idea what was happening to him, "Cas, talk to me. Where are you hurt?" Cas still hadn't answered him, but he couldn't. How could he explain what was going on inside of him, the pain, the fear. Cas felt another presence get close to him, taking a hold of his legs. Both boys picked him up and placed him back on the bed as he squirmed and writhed,

"What's wrong with him?" Sam asked,

"I don't know, he's been doing this for a while now" Dean replied, "He won't answer me" Cas felt a hand on his shoulder,

"Cas? Hey man, talk to us, what's happening?"

"Maybe it's the spell?" Dean asked, "Something went wrong with the deaging spell?"

"Side effect" Cas mumbled through his pain. As the pain lessened slightly, he rolled away from the boys to the other side of the bed to get to the ground,

"Hang on. Wait Cas" Dean ran a hand through his hair, feeling the stress of not being able to help his friend out of pain. Cas got up and went passed both hunters to the bathroom, locking the door behind him. He immediately slid down to the cool tiled floor. He felt warm and sweaty and overall unpleasant. There was knocking on the door, "Cas?"

"A minute" Cas said through deep breaths, "I'll be fine in a minute" He took off his oversized trench coat and shirt and sat on the edge of the motel bath. He felt a pressure sprout from his upper back and so much pain, it was like his skin was on fire. He grit his teeth and bit his cheeks in an effort to stop any noise as he could sense the presence of the brothers standing by the door. The only thing he couldn't hold back was the tears. The tears of pain as his jet-black, feathered wings pushed through the skin to be released. The blood it left dripped down into the bath so it wouldn't cover the floor. Cas bit his lip and closed his eyes tight as the pain wracked through his body. Before he could stop it, a single sob escaped. Of course the Winchesters heard it and already there's a knock at the door,

"Cas? You alright in there?" Fear rose up in Cas. He knew if he opened his mouth, something other than 'I'm fine' will come out and betray him but if he said nothing, they won't leave him alone. His wings froze. Part of the large wingspan was free, the other still pushing to get out causing spikes of pain to shoot up and down Cas's spine. He calmed himself as much as possible before finally opening his mouth,

"Yes" He replied, closing his mouth shut immediately before anything else came out,

"Cas we heard you, now let us in" Dean demanded, "Don't make me kick this door down"

"A little extreme Dean?" Sam mumbled,

"Extreme? You did see him writhing on the floor right?" Dean said back, "Listen, Cas, we can help but you need to tell us what the hell is going on" Dean wasn't giving up and Cas suddenly yelped loudly as the largest part of the wing sprang free, the first joint. He clasped his hands over his mouth after that. When the yelp reached Dean signalling Cas's distress, he didn't care about privacy. Motel bathroom locks were easy to pick and he rushed in closely followed by Sam. They froze at the door, "Cas?" Dean looked over the ten year old and his eyes moved over the dark feathers taking up most of the space in the bath. They would be a magnificent raven colour though the feathers were all damp and sticky. They appeared to be covered in some kind of oil. As the boys got closer they realised it was blood. The sight was sickening. Even more sickening was the pain on Castiel's face as tears ran down his cheeks in continuous streams. He had his forehead resting against clenched fists and he shivered as more pain shot through him, "Cas what's happening?"

"My grace, it's too cramped" Cas replied, "Ttt-that's why I was in p-pain. I had to..." He paused as the second joint in the wings made its way through the two wounds now created in his back. Sweat was dripping down his forehead at this point. He tried to hold it back but another noise escaped him, portraying his pain. Dean grabbed a hold of him and Cas just clung to his arm, burying his head in Dean's shoulder. He tried not to squeeze Dean's arm but as the pain grew worse, he couldn't help it. Dean wrapped his other arm around his neck to pull him down into the hug, Sam went to the other side. It was clear how painful this was for him, "I had to give it more space" He said, "My grace wasn't meant to be contained in a vessel this small, it's crushing it" Finally the last joint in the wings escaped, where they met in the back. The skin healed again around the wings. Cas's wings quivered in the cool breeze, they haven't felt the air in so long. They begged to be used but Cas knew if he flapped his wings in here, blood would spatter everywhere. He gave a content sigh as the pain had finally stopped and the pressure within him was relieved. He pulled out of the hug, wiping the tears and sweat from his face. The boys were still sitting there expectantly, "I should probably shower now" The boys nodded and quickly left. The pair wandered into the next room in stunned silence,

"Well that was..." Dean paused,

"Yeah" Sam nodded,

"Alright" Dean shook his head clear but his eyes wandered back to the sound of the shower. He gave a shudder at the thought of Cas pushing those huge wings out from under his skin. Sam must have been thinking the same thing because he cringed at the thought.


	2. Chapter 2

After a while of being under the shower, loose feathers and skin were scrubbed off, the blood was all but washed away. A pang of panic hit Cas though when he looked up. He felt disoriented after all the pain he had endured and had to put everything straight in his head. He sat down in the shower as he didn’t want to faint. The dizziness and lightheadedness continued until he finally got out the shower and started to dry himself with the towel. He was very careful with his wings, knowing how sensitive they could be. He was still trying to sort everything out. He sat down with his back against the bathroom wall, allowing the cool condensation to dampen his bare back. He took deep breaths as the steam around him heated the room to an uncomfortable temperature. He was in Jasper Indiana. There were two hunters in the next room that were going to worry about him. Sam and Dean. He couldn’t handle the fact he was starting to forget them. Maybe he was just having an off day. It could have been due to the pain. He used his angel blade to cut holes in the shirt for his wings to hang out of comfortably. He wandered out, keeping his gaze to the floor and went to sit on the bed he’d slept on earlier. He was feeling drained after what just happened to him.

“Cas? You ok?” Dean asked. Cas looked up at Dean and nodded. He was quiet now, almost shy. Cas suspected it was a side effect of the new vessel. Both hunters looked up again. This behaviour change was unsettling. They needed to find this witch, fast. Which means they’re going to need some serious help. They both looked at each other, coming to the same conclusion,

“I’ll call Bobby” Sam said, “Maybe he can help find her”

“I’ll drive” Dean said, “We should be moving on from here anyway” Sam nodded. It wasn’t long until they were on the road. Cas was napping under his trenchcoat in the back. His large wings shrinking in size easily to fit under his makeshift blanket. Sam leaned against the window. Though originally just nursing a headache, he'd dozed off unnoticed by Dean. The whole car remained eerily silent. Dean didn’t even play music. He didn’t want to wake Cas. Why? Because he was starting to have a few outbursts. Nothing major but when they forgot to wait for Cas to hide his wings under his trenchcoat, all the lights in the room started to flicker noticeably. He was peaceful for now but when he woke up, again, he panicked. He forgot where he was and the car engine cut out. “Cas” Dean gave a frustrated sigh. Not the impala, not his baby. But when he turned to the angel with slight annoyance, he didn’t see an angel looking back at him. He saw a scared ten year old boy. There was no flame of recognition in his eyes and at Dean’s annoyed look, he sunk back into the leather seat and Dean softened immediately, “Hey, Cas you ok?” He asked. The kid still looked blank,

“D-Dean?” He asked, the flame in his eye coming back, “Sam” He looked to the sleeping passenger beside Dean, “Dean and Sam” He looked around him, “In the impala”

“You ok?” Dean asked, “You keep forgetting us man”

“S-Sorry” Cas sunk back into the leather seat again. Dean gave a sigh and hit Sam’s shoulder. Sam woke up,

“Hey, you’re driving” Dean ordered,

“O-k?” Sam wondered confused,

“The spell must have done something to his memories. I’ll ride in the back with him” He got out of the car and sat beside Cas who was still bundled in his trenchcoat. He put his arm around him and encouraged Cas to snuggle into his side. He fell asleep again before they got to Bobby’s. As Bobby watched the boys pull up, he didn’t know what to expect. Sam had called to say they were coming and Cas had been turned into a child but aside from that, he had no idea what was happening,

“That the boys?” Sheriff Jody Mills was there, visiting at the time. She had known about what they do now since the apocalypse and Bobby trusts her easily. When she looked out the window, she was surprised to see Dean carrying a young boy wrapped in a large bundle into the house, “Who’s the kid?”

“That’s Cas” Bobby replied,

“As in, your angel Cas? I always pictured him as an adult” She looked at him funny. She’s never met the angel before but she had heard about him,

“A witch cast a deaging spell on him. It’s apparently not sitting well” The boys entered and Dean carefully put Cas on the sofa. He was still asleep, “So, how is he?” Bobby asked,

“The spell must be messing with his memories. He’ll wake up and have to remind himself who we are” Dean said,

“And he’s been having a few outbursts” Sam replied,

“What sort of outbursts?” Bobby didn’t even have to ask. The lights above him started to flicker and he looked at it, then back at Cas. He wasn’t having a particularly nice looking dream. He was squirming in his sleep. Another wave of panic hit him and the lightbulbs burst in the room. It was loud enough to wake him up and he shot up, looking around,

“Those kinds of outbursts” Sam finished. Cas was swarmed by four people. Three looked familiar. He furrowed his eyebrows at them. Dean, Sam and Bobby. He hadn’t seen Bobby in a while, luckily he hadn’t changed much. His eyes moved to the fourth,

“Cas, that’s Jody Mills. Remember we told you about her” The memory came back to Cas and he nodded,

“I’m Castiel” He introduced himself,

“Hi, wow” Jody’s eyes widened as Cas’ trench coat fell off him when he straightened up, setting free the huge black wings sprouting from his back. The light from the window reflected off them in shades of midnight blue and navy and the wings seemed to soak up a lot of light too,

“You forgot to mention a few details Dean” Bobby looked at him, “The spell do that too?”

“No” Dean shook his head, “No, he did actually”

“When he woke up he was in a lot of pain. He said his vessel was too small to hold his grace so he brought out his wings to give it more space” Sam continued,

“We came into the bathroom and it was like a scene from Alien, it was horrible. There was blood everywhere” Dean finished,

“Ok” Bobby shook the thought out of his head, “What else has the spell done?”

“Well, he’s a lot more quiet and shy. More scared”

“Like a kid” Bobby replied, “Ok. What do you have on this witch?”

“Her name was Olivia Pendle, according to Cas, she’s centuries old and very, very powerful”

“And you two idjits just charged on in didn’t you” Bobby said,

“Pretty much. She trapped us with a spell then when Cas came to save us, she knocked him out”

“Witches can do that?” Bobby looked at Cas,

“She was using an enochian spell” Cas replied, hands fiddling with his primary flight feathers in one wing, “I haven’t heard of it before. It could have been one of her own making. She managed to extract a bit of my grace with it but I’m not sure how”

“And then what?”

“I shot her” Sam replied, “Twice with witch killing poison. We both thought she was dead” Bobby then looked to Cas for the last of it,

“She was able to summon me using some of the grace she had extracted from me. Held me with enochian wards and then used a potion on me”

“Did you see her make up the potion? What ingredients did she use?”

“When I came to, she had already made most of it up. I remember her mashing up Monkshood in holy water. She talked about Yarrow and I believe she was also using basil leaves but aside from that, the majority of the potion was finished”

“Did she say anything about the spell?”

“She was reading from a book but I couldn’t see it. She said that it caused more harm in smaller doses”

“How does that work?” Dean asked,

“I believe it is due to the potency. It isn't a strong spell so it shrinks the outside of the vessel first. If in large doses, it shrinks inside the vessel too. She mentioned something about side effects including crushing the soul. If the soul didn't shrink with the vessel it could become cramped”

“Like what happened with your grace” Sam replied. Cas nodded,

“What else did she say about it?” Bobby asked, “Any other side effects?”

“Mental trauma and violent outbursts” Cas replied, “Which could mean the spell works on the mind too, the mental state of a young child with adult memories could cause these symptoms”

“Well you don't seem too bad” Jody pointed out,

“I'm an angel. The spell works on the vessel containing me, I appear to be mostly unaffected. Perhaps a few human behaviours”

“Do you know where she kept you?” Bobby asked, turning Cas’ attention back to the matter,

“No. Like I said, I was summoned there but it couldn’t have been far from Sam and Dean. I was too weakened after that spell to go far but I still managed to make it to them”

“Ok” Bobby replied. The boys all turned to talk and discuss their next move with Jody weighing in. Cas felt a lurch in him. It was a sickening feeling and one that was indescribable. He let himself rest on the arm of the couch, tucking his legs up into his chest subconsciously. Jody recognised Cas was being too quiet. Maybe it was because she’s been a mum but when she turned back to him, she could tell immediately something wasn’t right. She snuck away from the group to him. He had wrapped his wings around him like a protective cocoon but his head still peeked out and she could see his wince appear on his face. She put a gentle hand on his shoulder as she approached,

“You ok?” She asked in a gentle voice,

“Fine” Cas replied, straightening up, “Just takes some getting used to” She nodded but knew it wasn’t just that. After a particular lurch in his stomach, he let out a small groan, holding his stomach,

“You hungry?” She asked,

“I don’t eat” Cas said,

“At all?” Cas shook his head.

“Yeah but you didn’t have to sleep before and you do now” Dean replied. Cas’ stomach made a loud gargle that surprised him,

“What was that?” He asked,

“That means you’re hungry” Sam wanted to smile. He could feel one coming but he knew angels weren’t meant to eat or sleep. He couldn’t help but feel more worried about what was happening to his friend,

“Come on. I’ll fix you up something” Jody led him away and it was probably the first time Bobby noticed Cas’ clothes were too big on him.

“We’ll need to find him something that will fit” He wandered upstairs and curious, the boys followed. Meanwhile Jody made a sandwich for Cas. He never knew what hunger felt like but the sickening feeling in his stomach seemed to calm once he started to eat. Jody also made sure he drank plenty of water. All the work they’re doing to help Cas will mean nothing if he starves to death. He quietly thanked her and started to eat. She smiled at him. She heard Bobby enter the kitchen while Cas was finishing up his food.

“Here Cas, got some clothes that might fit you better” Bobby said, holding out some jeans and a flannel shirt. Bobby had cut two ‘X’s in the back for Cas’ wings. Cas nodded and went to a bedroom to try them on. Bobby was right, they fit much better than the huge shirt and trousers he had on. However getting his wings through the holes proved to be difficult. He could get one wing in but then the other got stuck halfway through. It fluttered in the trap and he knew if it didn’t get free soon, it would panic. He pulled at the cloth and tried forcing his wing through,

“Ow” He said lowly to himself as the first joint caught on the fabric. He hadn’t even noticed anyone come in until a warm hand reached through the hole in the shirt to gently guide the joint though. The rest of the wing followed suit but Cas still had to cringe at the feeling of his feathers dragging across the fabric as it slotted itself through the hole. He turned to see Dean easing it through, “Thank you Dean” Cas replied,

“No problem” Dean replied. Cas continued to button up the shirt,

“Where did Bobby get this?”

“He kept some of our old clothes from when we used to stay here. Don’t ask me why, I have no idea. Come on” He led Cas back out to everybody again. Now Bobby and Sam were stuck into research, trying to figure out how to track down this witch. Jody had to leave for work but she had promised to come back and help where she could. Time went on with nothing. Dean leaned limply on the back of his chair, rubbing his eyes from staring at the pages. Bobby was looking up the potion that Cas had taken in the books. No luck on his end either. He gave a sigh, pouring himself another glass of whiskey. After hours of absolutely nothing, Sam got a ping from his laptop. When he turned back to it, he looked up,

“Hey get this” He said, “I was tracking any credit cards in Olivia Pendle’s name and I got a hit”

“Where?” Bobby asked,

“Here”

“Sioux Falls?” Dean asked,

“That’s usually what here means idjit” Bobby retorts,

“Ok, well, two witch killing bullets to the chest didn’t do the trick last time, what else have we got? Cas? Any ideas?” The boys looked over but Cas had that lost look in his eyes and everyone knew it had happened again. He wasn’t looking at them but at his surroundings. His usual looks didn’t seem right on a kid’s face as he stared at the room with a furrowed brow, “Cas?” Dean asked and Cas looked up at them, eyes glancing over everyone,

“Who’s Cas?” It sounded casual like he was expecting one of them was called Cas. Everyone was shocked when those words came out of his mouth,

“You are” Sam replied, hoping that it would all come back to him like it normally did,

“Who are you?” He said, tilting his head then he realised his wings were out and a wave of panic went through him. The lightbulbs Bobby had just replaced blew out and Bobby just sighed, “Why are…?” He continued, staring at his jet-black wings “How are my wings out? Where am I?” His voice raised defensively,

“Calm down” Dean said, sliding off his chair to go over to him. When he put his hand on Cas’ shoulder, Cas shied away, “We’re friends of yours. Sam, Bobby, Dean? Anything coming back to you?” The names rang with familiarity in his head and he looked from each worried face. His breaths slowed as he singled out one face,

“Sam” He identified Sam who relaxed slightly, his wide eyes moved slowly to the next figure, “Bobby” Bobby nodded in confirmation then Cas turned back to Dean, “Dean”

“There you go. Remember now?” He asked,

“Yes” Cas nodded, also relaxing with a sigh. Bobby got a call,

“Hey Jody” Bobby greeted. They couldn’t hear the other side, “So far, so good but it looks like that witch might be coming to us” There was a pause, “I think we’re all good for everything here, actually I’m running a little low on light bulbs… Yeah”

“Figured as much” Jody came walking into the door, phone still at her ear. It surprised everyone which just made her smile. Bobby was about to take a sip from his whiskey glass when he realised it was also broken,

“There goes the whiskey” He muttered,

“So she’s coming here?”

“Actually she already is here” Sam replied, “Probably looking for Cas”

“Got anywhere secluded, he can hide” Dean looked to Jody,

“I can handle myself Dean” Cas shot back,

“Dude, you just asked us who Cas is. If she gets here and you have another incident, you’re easy pickings for her” Dean replied,

“I have a cabin in the woods, should be good while you deal with her” Jody said,

“Good” Dean nodded. Cas wasn’t happy to be left out of this. Jody had to smile at how he huffed in the car ride over. When they got to the cabin, Jody led the way inside and Cas awkwardly explored the area with his eyes, hovering at the door until Jody closed it behind him,

“You ok?” She asked, noticing his delay,

“Fine” Cas said and sat down at the nearest chair. Jody could tell, he was restless. Sam, Dean and Bobby were going up against a dangerous witch and he couldn’t help them,

“Cas, they’ll be fine. They’ve gone through worse” Jody said in an attempt to ease his worry. Cas was quiet. As it started to get dark, Jody made another sandwich. Cas hadn’t realised but his hunger grew and then the sickening feeling in his stomach hit him again. His wings curled around him at the feeling, “It’s hunger Cas” Jody said, putting the plate on the table, “Come on, eat up” Cas came over,

“How did you know I’d be hungry?” He asked,

“Because you haven’t eaten in a few hours. We can time these things you know”

“Oh, I guess” Cas looked down at the plate. Jody didn’t know what to make of Cas. On one hand he’s an ancient, powerful possibly multi-headed paranormal creature of eldritch proportions but on the other he’s stuck in the body of a ten year old and struggling with such basic human needs like hunger and sleep. Jody could realise the spark in his eye fading, “Cas?” She asked. He looked up and the spark reignited,

“Yeah?”

“Sorry, it just looked like you were going again” She smiled,

“I’ve noticed that I've been doing that more and more” Cas replied. He sighed, taking a sip of the water Jody gave him, “This is all very new and confusing, I’ve had trouble keeping everything straight in my head”

“For humanities protectors, you sure don’t know a lot about our everyday” Jody said,

“I know, angels and humans generally don't mix” He looked down at the sandwich in his hands, “Oddly enough, a brother of mine hid among the humans for centuries, blending in. He must have known something the rest of us don't” Jody smiled at that. So much for angels being soulless, powerful beings, he was starting to sound like Sam and Dean. She could feel the longing in him, the loneliness. Does he always feel like this? How do Sam and Dean not notice it,

“You miss them, don’t you” She looked up, “Your family”

“I’m not welcome up there now” He shook his head, “I’m just a fallen angel” Cas sighed, looking down at his sandwich. He was just examining his own teeth marks in the PB&J whilst thinking about his brother. He probably ate things like that all the time. He did have a sweet tooth. Cas was halfway through his sandwich when he froze,

“What?” Jody noticed it immediately. On instinct, his wings fluffed up and rose slightly to make himself more intimidating as a knock on the door came. Jody was put on edge now at Cas’ reaction. Her hand shooting to her hip, resting on her gun. The door opened and Bobby walked in,

“Don’t shoot, it’s just me” He replied,

“Don’t scare me like that” Jody relaxed. Cas stood up from his stool, glaring at him,

“Who are you?” Cas asked. His eyes narrowed slightly,

“It’s Bobby, you know me. We’re friends” Bobby replied,

“It’s ok Cas” Jody replied, thinking Cas has just forgot again,

“Jody, that’s not Bobby” Cas replied. His angel blade slipped down his sleeve. The lights in the cabin flickered slightly. Bobby looked up at them then an uncharacteristic smile came over his face,

“Damn, I thought the memory loss would have kicked in by now” He said. His body morphed. She appeared in front of them within the flicker of a light, her gaze fixed on the angel. Jody pulled out her gun, “I think the dose was too small. I did warn you, you wouldn't want to spit most of it out” The witch said in her own voice now, “Still, that can be easily fixed. By the time I'm done with you, you won't remember any of this” Cas narrowed his eyes at her,

“I don't think so lady” Jody said. Olivia flicked the gun right out of Jody’s hand.

“Please, what are you going to do with that? Those bullets are useless against me” Cas threw his blade at her but she stopped it in its place and let it fall to the ground. She was a powerful witch. So powerful she wasn’t using any incantation when doing this. She tutted at Cas, “Now that's not very angelic is it? Throwing knives at an unarmed woman” Cas lunged for his knife before she could kick it away and went to stab her but she dodged him and grabbed one of his wings. At the harsh grasp, Cas made a slight yelp and pushed her back into the wall. Jody grabbed her gun and shot the witch twice but it did nothing. The witch threw her back, she went crashing through a wall and didn’t get up after that. Cas stabbed Olivia in the abdomen. She narrowed her eyes at him and grabbed his throat. She picked him up like he had no weight to him, he struggled to breathe in her grip. His wings beat ferociously to try and hit her. She pulled the blade from her abdomen, a little blood dripped out over her already dark lips and her eyes darkened with rage. She pushed him hard to the wall, one wing was bent awkwardly and he winced when he was pinned down. He thought she was going to stab him with the blade and was preparing himself but she didn’t. She dropped the blade and leaned towards his ear again. He leaned away from her but she just followed his movements, “Gotcha” She whispered, “Sleeeeep…” Cas' body went numb and his eyelids dropped. If he fought, he made it worse as tiredness swept over him like a rug.


	3. Chapter 3

Dean, Sam and Bobby hadn’t heard from Jody or Cas in a while. They also haven’t heard anything from that witch. Her trail disappeared. Bobby called up Jody and the phone rang. No answer. He waited but he looked at everyone else and they were all worried,

“I’ll drive, you keep trying to contact her” Dean said and they all hopped into the impala. Dean drove as fast as he could and Bobby still couldn’t get a hold of her. When they got there, they knew why. The door was wide open and as they rushed in, they saw Cas’ blade on the ground covered in blood. They also saw a wooden panel wall smashed through and Jody lying unconscious on the other side of it,

“Jody” Bobby went over to her. Once he got to her, she groaned and opened her eyes,

“Cas” She looked around,

“He’s gone” Dean said after searching all the rooms. Bobby helped Jody up onto a chair and got her a glass of water, “What the hell happened here?”

“She came in looking like you Bobby” Jody sat up, holding her head. A few drops of blood reached down her forehead from her hairline, “Cas knew immediately it wasn’t you but she was too strong for either of us. She knocked me out and… I don’t even want to know what she’s doing to Cas”

“I’ll get you patched up. Boys, she had to get out here someway. Figure it out. I don’t care what you have to do. Track her down” The boys nodded and went outside to try to track her.

Cas opened his eyes. The room was dark. The only light was from a window at the top of the wall. Even then it was out of the reach of the small vessel he was stuck in. He tried to stand up but was pulled back by something. He gasped at the pressure to his vessel when he turned to see the chains. His wings were pinned into his back in an unnatural way with chains keeping them still. His wrists were chained together too and he was tethered to the wall. His eyes grew wide as the enochian wards glowed and the chains tightened around his wrists and sensitive wings. He gave a yelp, his wings struggling and panicking at the feeling causing the chains to tighten even more. He grit his teeth at the feeling, his vision blurring slightly with tears. He stood up and leaned back against the wall, his wings spread against it as far as the chains would let them and they stilled. He took a long, shaky breath, allowing himself to calm before going back to evaluating his position. Light appeared from the stairs leading down into the room on the opposite wall. Olivia came down with a syringe and bottle,

“I'll just take some before this takes affect” She mumbled to herself. Cas eyed her suspiciously as she approached, “I've got my very own grace tap” She smirked, “Just think of all the things I can do with your grace Castiel. No one will stop me, not even the Winchesters” Cas grew heated. His body craving action against her as tension built up in his muscles, “With my duplication spell, I could even double the amount I take from you, wouldn't that be nice? Means I won't have to do this to you too often” She stuck the syringe into his neck and drew back the plunger. Cas thrashed and struggled under the needle as it filled up with a light blue glowing liquid. She filled the bottom of the syringe before pulling it out again. Cas dropped to the ground when the needle pulled out. He sat there a little breathless, glaring at her. She looked at the syringe disappointed, “Not as much as I'd hoped. Perhaps I would need to keep coming back for more” She looked at the bottle she'd come with and opened it up. The yellow mixture was very familiar to Cas and he knew what she was going to do. He shook his head, “You are going to drink this” She said. His temper was still boiling and as she came close to him again he lunged forward at her, momentarily forgetting he was chained down. She flinched slightly as he did but the chains pulled him back and tightened, punishing him for moving. He winced but his rage continued in his glares. She too grew angry at that, slapping him across the face. Cas wasn't expecting to be affected by it but his head was moved at the force of the slap and his cheek burned red. She grabbed his chin and pulled his face back, “I was feeling a little sympathy for you but your repeated non-cooperation is really getting on my nerves now” She pried his jaw open with a force that made Cas think she was going to break it. She emptied the bottle onto his tongue before closing it and pinching his nose. Cas couldn't breath and though he tried, he couldn't free his head, his hands grabbed her wrist but she seemed a lot stronger than him. Finally he had to swallow it or he would suffocate. She finally let him go and he took in deep breaths to regulate his breathing. They exchanged glares for a couple more seconds before she left. The grace she took from him was not a lot. He would recover. She left him there and he shivered as some part of him felt a bit empty. Even as his grace replenished itself. His vessel shrunk a little but it was his mind that suffered more at the extra dose. This was going to become a cycle. He knew it. There wasn't anything he could do. The enchantment on the chains was too strong for him. He sat back against the wall, cushioned by his wings. He just had to hope Sam and Dean found him. Or maybe he could still call out. He closed his eyes and focused on angel radio. It was there he sent out a distress signal, no one answered. He furrowed his eyebrows, confused, maybe he couldn't send a call. He realised what danger he put himself in as many angels still wanted to kill him. He did get a response when he tried again but the voice was riddled with hate and disgust,

“Help yourself” Cas winced at the remark, the voice audibly growled in his own head. He had been at odds with a lot of the angels but he thought at least one would help him, it turns out he was wrong. His last hope now was Sam and Dean. As he thought this, Olivia came down in a hurry,

“We’re leaving” She said, “Get up” She unchained him from the wall but kept the chains on his wings and wrists like a tether. He tried to be difficult, he wouldn’t walk with her. He pulled back from her, only to wince as the chains again tightened. Cas was sure they'd cut off circulation soon. Olivia had no patience now. She grabbed his hair, pulling his head back towards her, “You think you can delay us so someone can save you?” She asked harshly in his ear, “Let me tell you, there is no one out there looking for you, no one is coming to save you”

“So why are you in such a rush if the Winchesters aren’t on their way here now?” He asked,

“They aren't coming for you. You're just their little pet, they'll find another angel”

“Guess again sweet cheeks” Dean wandered down, gun in hand pointing at her. Sam came in too. Olivia took out another syringe. A much fuller syringe than what she had taken from him a couple hours ago,

“Castiel has told you how painful his grace is in that little body hasn’t he?” She asked, “I wonder what would happen if I add more?” Both brothers froze, “We’re leaving and if you follow us, I will do it” She wasn't holding on to the chains tightly, her grip was on the syringe and his head. Cas saw his chance as the chains loosened around him. He used the opportunity to spread his wings as wide as they could, partly pulling the chains off him. He pulled away from her and then his wings spread out quickly, stopping when they were halfway open as the chains stuck. Her grip on his hair tightened and she stabbed his neck with the syringe. The boys both jumped forward at that and she gave them a threatening look as she held the syringe still. They both froze, as did Cas, “Guns down boys” She said, nodding to the guns still pointed at her. They peered at each other and when they hesitated, she pushed a small amount of grace in. Cas hardly felt it as it joined with the rest of his grace but it prompted the boys to put their guns down, “Good” Her plump lips curved up and her grey eyes lit with excitement. She could boss the Winchesters. She had the ultimate bargaining chip. She looked down at the boy in her grasp now. His jaw was clenched at the tension in the air, his eyes staring at his friends in front of him. She edged around the Winchesters with the angel still held firmly, staring at them all the while. She did like having the upper hand. She was just about to head up the stairs when the Winchesters felt her attention turn away from them. Sam nudged Dean,

“We aren't just going to let her leave are we?” Sam asked lowly so only Dean could hear,

“No” Dean narrowed his eyes at the back of the woman's head as he silently reached for his knife, rushing to stab her before she could make a break for it with Cas. Olivia was not phased as the knife entered her chest. In fact, she was angered by it.

“That's how it's going to be?” She pushed Dean away, pulling the blade out. She stared him in the eye as her hands started to push more grace in, pushing in every last drop of grace. First all Cas felt was fizzing. The grace swirling into his body to join its larger whole. Then the pain ensued. The grace was folding into itself, creating a huge pressure in him causing him to clutch his sides and fall down,

“Cas” Dean rushed to him. His eyes glowed blue and his wings curled around him as he writhed on the floor. As the feeling continued, the pain grew worse. Cas grit his teeth and clenched his eyes shut, now growling in pain. The witch used this time to get up the stairs but before she made it to the door, someone else stood in her way. He was not happy either. He put his hand to her forehead and burned her eyes out. He let her dead body fall to his feet and he stepped over it, going to his brother’s side. He winced at Castiel’s telepathic screams, even more as he saw his wings in tight chains. The boys only noticed him as he put a hand on Cas’ shoulder and their eyes grew wide.

“Gabriel?” Sam asked, unable to believe the face in front of them, “How-?”

“I’m a trickster Sam” He reminded them, “It’s not the first time I’ve faked my own death” He picked the kid up easily. He wanted to be able to stop the pain there and then but there wasn’t much he could do. Cas wasn’t looking at him. His eyes were shut tight and a whimper escaped his throat. Gabriel pulled him up to his chest with one arm and used the other to take the chains off his brother. Once his arms were free, they clung to Gabriel’s shirt. Gabriel clicked his fingers and they were back at Bobby’s place. Bobby had taken Jody back there and they were waiting by the phone anxiously to see if Sam or Dean would call with news. What they didn’t expect was to see them suddenly appear with an archangel.

“What did she do to Cas?” Bobby asked, noticing Cas shuddering and screaming through gritted teeth. This is the same angel that wasn’t even phased when Dean stabbed him in the heart with the demon blade.

“She took some of his grace, gave him time to replenish and pumped it back in” Gabriel replied, “The vessel’s too small to contain so much, it’s being crushed. It’s causing some major problems” As he said this, a surge of blue light erupted from Cas and flew out the window, luckily it was open or it might have smashed through the glass, “Like that. Somethings getting utterly destroyed tonight”

“So what do we do?” Dean asked,

“I don’t know” Gabriel replied. “Best I can do is make him comfortable until it normalises” Gabriel lay him on the couch and put two fingers to his temple. The whimpering quietened and Cas fell asleep. Even unconscious, Cas was still reacting to it. Only he wasn’t crying out in pain. His body was tense in a tight ball and a hot tear escaped his eye, “We just gotta wait for the potion to wear off, it can’t be long unless she’d given him more”

“If she did, how much of his memory will he have when he wakes up” Sam asked, “I mean, he had to remind himself of us every couple minutes”

“Well if it's recent memories going first, he should still remember me. We can always remind him as the spell takes its course” Gabriel finally looked up at the boys and tilted his head, his serious, concerned face melted into a cocky smirk, “You should all probably get some rest. I’d hate to see how you lot get without your beauty sleep”

“What about Cas?” Dean asked,

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye on your boyfriend” Gabriel replied, Dean just rolled his eyes and the pair went to sleep in the spare room. Jody went home and Bobby slept in his room. Gabriel sat in the living room, quietly with a sucker in his mouth. He didn’t need sleep but he might have fallen asleep himself at the boredom. He occupied his time on his phone, smiling evilly as he logged into the twitter account of one Donald Trump, “What country can I piss off today?” He muttered to himself. The hate comments were the funniest things. People are hilarious in their hate. As the sun rose again, he looked up from staring at hate comments as Cas was starting to stir. Not in a nice way. It started off in a groan that got Gabriel’s attention. Then his breathing increased and he tucked his knees into his chest, then a large portion of grace burst from him, causing him to jump up. As he panicked, the ball of grace zoomed around the room uncontrolled. Cas stood up on the couch, watching it zoom about with his hands on his head, trying to control it. His hair was all ruffled and dishevelled. It hit against the walls, knocking things from shelves, creating a ruckus. His wings raised up in alarm, constantly moving to protect him as the grace continued to hit everything it could. It nearly hit Cas when Gabriel pulled him out of the way. Dean and Bobby were the first responders to the disturbance and both were surprised at what they saw. Gabriel held his brother to his chest, “Easy Cassie” He called him by his childhood nickname to calm him down, “Just breathe, you can’t control it while you’re panicked” And Castiel did just that. He took a breath, calmed down just before the blue ball of light hit Dean. It stopped in its tracks. Cas slowly lowered his wing and looked over at it. It flew back to him and he shuddered once it disappeared,

“Well, that was something” Bobby broke the silence,

“Yeah” Dean nodded, “You two ok?”

“Peachy” Gabriel replied, looking down at Cas in his arms. Cas was getting better at managing the pain but his outbursts were getting more out of control, “So Cas, that witch, did she give you any more of that potion?” Cas just nodded, “How much?” Cas shrugged,

“As much as she could force me to drink from a bottle”

“Damn it. How’s the memory? Remember us?”

“For now yes” Cas looked from face to face, “Where's Sam?”

“Sleeping beauty ain't up yet” Dean explained, “We just rushed in when we heard stuff breaking. Thought it was some kind of fight”

“Sorry” Cas replied,

“Well, now that we’re up, breakfast?” Dean looked to Cas who nodded and followed them into the kitchen. He was still quiet as Sam sleep walked past him, hardly realising he was there. Cas looked at Sam and only now noticed how big he was. He was like a skyscraper, Cas had to crane his neck to look at his face. Then Sam finally took notice of him in the chair,

“Did you get smaller?” Sam asked. Cas looked down at himself. His clothes did feel a little bigger than yesterday. Bobby and Dean then looked at him,

“Yeah you’re right” Dean nodded, “He’s like a couple years younger at least” Cas sunk back into his wings that were now a lot bigger in proportion to his small body,

“Hopefully these outbursts won’t bring any unwanted attention” Gabriel put in, nodding up at the sky,

“Because that’s just what we need right now” Dean sighed.

“Hey Gabriel, how did you know where Cas was?” Sam asked, “Yesterday you just appeared out of nowhere”

“Cas called” Gabriel said, “Threw up the distress flares. Just so happens I was listening to angel radio at the time”

“And you’re the only angel that came to help?” Dean asked, looking to Cas. Cas gave a sigh,

“The others didn’t care” He replied, “I’m nothing but an outsider to them”

“Join the club” Gabriel pat him on the shoulder, “So what’s for breakfast? Got anything good?”

“Bacon and eggs?” Dean asked. He was at the stove already with a pan. As the smell of food filled the kitchen, Cas noticed his stomach lurch more, the feeling of hunger grew. After a frustrating wait, Dean finally set bacon on everyone’s plates and eggs not far after. Bobby popped up some toast too. Everyone sat around the table to eat, even Gabriel, though he made his own food out of cakes and sweets. Cas paused his quest to feed his hunger and looked around the table at everyone. It felt nice, peaceful, like a real family breakfast. He continued to eat but his appetite was smaller than before. His lurching feeling had turned into a bloated feeling and he knew he’d had enough.

“Feeling sleepy?” Gabriel asked,

“No, why?” Cas asked, Gabriel shrugged,

“The more time you spend sleeping, the less time you have breaking light bulbs” A faint smile flickered over the angel’s face but it quickly disappeared. He did perk up though when Gabriel started to delicately poke out a loose feather from his wing. Gabriel finally picked it out, “I forgot how long these get” He held it up. The feather was as long as Gabriel’s hand. Cas’ attention span moved on to the window looking outside until he felt something soft gently tickle behind his ear. He flinched, looking back at Gabriel who was using his own black feather against him. He gave a chuckle and had a mischievous glint in his eye that Cas knew all too well. He furrowed his eyebrows, wondering how Gabriel could even think of fun in their current situation. He could forget them all at any moment and they still had no idea if the spell even fades off or if there is a counter spell. He looked down at the table, frowning,

“Gabriel stop” He muttered firmly,

“What’s the matter?” Gabriel asked, teasing Cas with the feather, “Ticklish?” Cas' eyes narrowed at Gabriel, “Oh, someone's grumpy today. Did you forget what fun was? I could gladly remind you if it gets that sour look off your face” Cas’ eyes widened as Gabriel lunged at him and he slid off the chair in time to dodge. Gabriel still caught his arm and stuck his other hand under his armpit,

“No” He yapped, sliding away from Gabriel’s cruel hands and ticklish touch. He couldn’t help the tiny smile that came over him as he hid behind Dean’s legs,

“Cas” Dean nearly tripped over him. Gabriel was down at Cas’ level, making mock lunges to make Cas flinch and smile more. Dean was just standing still between the two, laughing. Jody walked in on the scene just as Gabriel made a real lunge and grabbed Cas, scooping him up and pulling him to his chest. Cas’ laugh was like music, the most adorable eight year old laughter that had everyone smiling,

“Did I walk in on something?” Jody asked,

“Of course not, just reminding my little brother to crack a smile once in a while” As Gabriel said this, he stuck a hand under Castiel’s arms, causing the young angel to squeal then clasp his hands over his mouth at the noise he made, “He's so small now, I can actually pick him up. This is going to be a lot of fun” Cas tried to pull out of Gabriel’s grip and just for the fun of it, Gabriel let him push himself some distance out before dragging him back so his back was to Gabriel’s chest.

“Hey Bobby, do you think this might be the potion the witch used on Cas?” Sam asked, grabbing Dean and Bobby’s attention to the laptop screen. Gabriel also went over but he kept a hold on Cas, keeping his arm around his waist as he stood up. Cas struggled but his feet weren’t even touching the ground as Gabriel stood up. Gabriel smirked as Castiel's legs scrambled in the air before turning his attention to what Sam discovered. Cas used the table next to him to push himself up in Gabriel's arms to where he was partly standing on the table so he too could see the screen, staring intently at the words. Jody stayed where she was as the small laptop was looking a little crowded with Sam in front of it, Dean and Bobby looking over each shoulder, Castiel with his foot on the corner of the table leaning back against Gabriel who was standing a little behind everyone to the side with an arm still around his little brother. They all looked so serious and intense as the small light from the screen fell on them, “It does talk about using yarrow and basil”

“I don't see any Monkshood though” Dean said,

“Wolf's bane. Monkshood is wolf's bane” Sam said,

“The more you know” Dean shook his head, “But isn't it poisonous?”

“Very” Cas replied, “But it wouldn't affect me”

“Yeah, that spell isn't used on humans. Look” Gabriel pointed to the top line of the web page,

“Only for creatures with rapid healing or undead abilities” Sam read out, “Like an angel”

“Why did she want Cas and why turn him into a kid?” Jody asked,

“She wanted to use my grace for her spells. She'd have to keep me alive to replenish it, I suppose a child is much easier for her to control” Cas replied,

“Yeah, it says it there too” Bobby poked the screen of the laptop making Sam flinch and send him a look. Bobby ignored it and read on, “Dangerous in small doses. Side effects in small dose include crushing the soul, mental trauma and violent outbursts”

“Sounds just like you this morning” Gabriel mumbled to Cas, “Where does mental trauma come into it though? And the memory loss. Why would Cas be forgetting things?”

“I guess it regresses his mind too” Sam said, looking to Cas as the now eight year old stared at the screen intently, “The spell can take full effect anywhere between an hour to three days after ingesting the potion and lasts close to a week depending on what creature it's used on”

“So I'll be stuck like this for a week?” Cas asked,

“And you'll end up forgetting us sometime soon too” Sam continued, “But you'll know Gabriel right?”

“Of course, he'll know me” Gabriel pulled Cas even closer to his chest, pinching his cheek, “I'm his favourite big brother right?” Cas was quiet, “Right?”

“I preferred Balthazar” Cas mumbled and Gabriel gave a dramatic gasp,

“Traitor” He gasped out. Jody chuckled at him, “Fine, I'll keep him right this week but I won't be happy about it” Sam smirked too. Dean was still looking over Sam's shoulder,

“Is there any way to counter it?” He asked. Sam shook his head,

“No witch felt the need to make a counter, they were turning their competition into children. Even then, it wore off in a week. We're just going to have to wait it out” Cas went to jump down from the table but Gabriel used his other hand to keep a hold of him too,

“Gabriel” Cas grumbled as the archangel wouldn't let him down,

“No I'm making you pay for that favourite brother comment” Gabriel said as Cas struggled in his arms. Cas gave a sigh before managing to turn enough to reach round and prod a specific ticklish spot at Gabriel's ribs that made him shriek and let him go. Cas landed on the ground, picking himself up with a relieved sigh until he saw Gabriel's mischievous look and a small proud smirk ghost across his face, “Oh that’s it, come here” He called chasing Cas out the room. Cas just laughed as he ran up the stairs, closely followed by Gabriel. Everyone laughed as they exited,

“Are we sure they were created before us?” Dean asked,

“I know right” Sam chuckled. They heard a squeal from upstairs,

“Geez, is he murdering Cas up there?” Dean chuckled,

“Sounds like you two, playing around in my house” Bobby shook his head with a smile, “I kept wondering if yous were just screaming at my mouldy towels or play fighting” The shrieks and squeals from upstairs sounded like they were coming from Cas, it was clear who was winning the fight. Jody sat there smiling to herself, the sounds were music to her.


	4. Chapter 4

Gabriel wasn’t paying attention when Cas woke up. He held his head, not sure what was happening to him. Names and faces, they were disappearing. He was forgetting people. Important people, he could tell. The tv static turned on, so did the radio. The lights flickered and Gabriel just rolled his eyes,

“On or off Cas, quit flicking them, you'll wake Bobby and he gets real grumpy at night” Cas was still holding his head and rolled off the couch and onto the floor, “Cas?” Gabriel just about saw him fall from the kitchen and headed in. The kid finally saw him and pulled himself away with his arms, backing into a corner and pulling out his knife,

“Where am I? Who are you?”

“Well. That was quick. I thought it would just gradually make you forget” Cas didn't respond to that and stared up at him with a fearful gaze. Gabriel got down on the floor a little while away from him, “Cassie? You recognise me?” Cas furrowed his eyebrows, tilting his head as he stared at Gabriel,

“Should I?” He asked. Gabriel shook his head,

“Not in this form at least” He said. They both heard footsteps as Bobby entered the room,

“Who the hell is playing that damn radio at three in the morning” He seemed irritated and looked accusingly at Gabriel as he turned it off, “Gabriel?” Cas stood up, backing further in the corner, holding his knife in front of him,

“Hey Cas, you're ok” Gabriel assured him,

“Who are you?” He asked,

“He lost his memories now?” Bobby asked, the irritation leaving him and his voice took on a less rough tone. Gabriel nodded, “I thought you said he'd still know you” Gabriel gave a sigh,

“Well if I was given the chance to introduce myself” Gabriel was starting to get a little frustrated and now Dean walks into the room and flicked the switch on, again making Cas get more defensive and squint as the light was turned on,

“Cas? You ok?” He asked on seeing him,

“Give them a moment” Bobby said, leading Dean out,

“And make sure to keep Sasquatch out too” Gabriel called after them. He took a breath, sitting on the couch and looking back at his brother, “It's fine, you can come out now” Cas realised his wings were out the whole time,

“What?” He then tilted his head at Gabriel, “You know already?”

“About you being an angel? Yeah, sure I'm one too” He then realised for the first time how natural Cas was with the knife in his hand. He was poised to use it. He shouldn't remember how to use one, “What are you doing with a knife at your age?” He asked, plucking it from Castiel's grasp,

“Michael gave me it” He said,

“Well Michael starts too early, what is he thinking giving you a weapon so young?” Cas still looked confused,

“Who are you? What's happened to me? What were you saying I've lost my memories?” Gabriel pat the couch next to him and Cas finally left the corner and sat down on the edge of the couch,

“You've fallen victim to a very powerful spell” He said,

“A spell?” Gabriel nodded, “What type of spell?”

“A deaging spell. There is no counter but it should wear off within the week”

“So where am I? How much have I lost?”

“Well that depends on the last thing you remember. Have you moved out of the nursery yet?” Cas shook his head, “So you haven't started training” Cas shook his head again,

“I'll be leaving soon” He said, “Or I would be leaving soon” Gabriel nodded, “How much am I missing?”

“Too much to describe really. We're long passed the apocalypse Cas”

“Really?” Cas looked around him, “This doesn't look like heaven”

“No, we're not in heaven”

“But earth would have been destroyed”

“Yeah, the apocalypse didn't really play out as planned. But hey, we saved earth. The vessels tricked both Michael and Lucifer back in the cage, they're gone”

“So who are you? I can't see you past your vessel”

“Yes well, that's kind of the point. How do you think I've gone undiscovered for so long?” Cas tilted his head and Gabriel sighed, “Your favourite brother”

“Gabriel?” Cas stopped tilting his head after he said it. It finally clicked with him on who he was talking to, “Gabriel”

“I knew you were lying when you said Balthazar was your favourite” Gabriel smirked. Cas just sat there frozen, staring up at him now, “Yeah, that's why I didn't tell you right away” Cas didn't look like he was listening, his eyes searched Gabriel to see if he was lying,

“This is a trick” He said,

“Nope, this is not a trick. Trust me, I tell much more believable lies”

“And this place? Where are we?”

“In a house, don't you see?” Cas rolled his eyes,

“Where?”

“On earth, I don't know. I popped in to help you, this is  _ your _ friend's house not  _ mine _ ”

“I made friends with humans?”

“Oh yeah, this is Bobby's house” Cas looked around the cluttered space. The old wallpaper was peeling from the walls, the shelves were covered with books and old papers. The desk by the fireplace was littered with open books about witchcraft and angel lore and the whole place had quite an oily smell. A whiskey glass sat in the only small space of the desk between books with a small lick of alcohol sitting in the bottom. Through the doorway Cas saw there was a kitchen and through the window he saw the salvage yard, not that he understood what it was. He wasn't scared by these surroundings, just confused. The last he saw of the humans, they were living in smaller houses and did not have such an extent of books and knowledge, nor did they have cars so the salvage yard made no sense to him. He looked back at Gabriel,

“Was that who was just in here? Bobby?”

“Yeah” Gabriel smiled, glad Cas was starting to understand, “Hey Bobby, come introduce yourself” The older man walked in and leaned against the desk next to them,

“He caught up?” Bobby questioned Gabriel,

“More or less” Dean wandered in not long after Bobby with Sam, both stayed closer to the door to not impose, “That’s the tall one and the short one” Gabriel pointed them out,

“Really?” Dean looked at Gabriel, drooping his eyelids exasperatedly,

“Well that’s how I tell you apart” Cas sighed too. Now was not the time. He needed to know all the details, “Alright they are, the one, the only Sam and Dean Winchester. Always there to spoil the fun. Grown up you is no fun either, you fit right in”

“I wonder why” Cas turned to Gabriel with a meaningful look,

“How is that my fault?!” Gabriel said with his arms out,

“Without you, there is just Michael and Raphael”

“Yeah but- you know” Gabriel sighed, folding his arms, “Whatever. They're friends of yours. You pulled Dean out of hell”

“I pulled him from hell?” Cas searched his memory for any clues to why he would, Gabriel nodded at him, “The righteous man. Dean is Michael's vessel?”

“Yeah”

“So Sam is Lucifer's vessel”

“Yep”

“And they tricked Michael and Lucifer into the cage?”

“Uh huh”

“Together?” Gabriel nodded,

“I know, I'd hate to be anywhere near that place. The two are probably at each other's throats by now” Gabriel shuddered, “I helped too by the way, I was pretty detrimental. Tell him Sammy” He pointed at Sam. Sam nodded, “See, hero” He pointed at himself, “And genius, I told you you’d have a very important role in the future”

“You didn’t know that, you were trying to make me feel better”

“When have you known me to lie?” He looked down at his brother still sitting apart from him. Castiel narrowed his eyes at him knowingly, “Ok, aside from when I drew a mustache on Michael” He admitted. Cas’ look deepened, “And covered Raphael’s room in glitter” Cas continued with the look, “I thought you couldn’t remember things, stop looking at me like that”

“Well that’s great but if you don’t mind, I’m going back for some shut eye” Bobby said going to leave. He turned off the TV on his way back out,

“Yeah, see you in the morning Cas” Dean smiled and the humans all left leaving just Cas and Gabriel. Cas was still sitting at the edge of the couch, starting to rub at his eyes with a yawn and once the others had gone, Gabriel opened his arms,

“Come on, it's been a few thousand years for you. Bring it in. You know you want to” Cas raised his eyebrows at that before edging closer. Gabriel pulled him into a hug and Cas took his time to hug back, his vessel was unfamiliar to him, he still had a doubt that this wasn't Gabriel but it disappeared when he hugged him. He felt relieved now as his arms wrapped around Gabriel that this was his brother, the one who left heaven and who he hadn't seen in centuries,

“Why did you have to go?” Cas hugged Gabriel tightly,

“I’m sorry Cas” Gabriel said, stroking his brother’s hair thoughtfully, “I just couldn’t take the fighting anymore”

“I missed you” Cas said. It took Gabriel off guard, he hadn’t realised what his disappearance did to the little fledglings that were left behind when he fled, much less the one he used to protect fiercely. Gabriel bent down and moved the hair away from Cas’ forehead,

“I missed you too, little brother” When he looked down at the eight year old, he could see he was already asleep. The corner of his mouth twitched up and he realised how much he’d missed being a pillow for children to sleep on. Cas was still. His sleep lasted long until morning. Everyone else had already woken up and were treading lightly around him. He was still snuggled into his older brother until he eventually woke up, “Always one to sleep in, lazybones” Gabriel said, shaking his head, alerting everyone else that he was awake. Cas gave a smile and sleepily sat up. Breakfast was already made but Cas didn’t remember that he needs to eat now, heck, he didn’t even remember what that sickening feeling in his stomach was. It made an urgent lurch at him and Cas held his stomach. It growled at him in response, trying to tell him to eat,

“What was that?” Cas asked Gabriel,

“That’s your stomach telling you to eat”

“But I don’t eat” A slight frantic feeling came over him, “Is something wrong with me?”

“It’s the spell” Gabriel replied, “But hey, it’s not too bad”

“Oh” Cas nodded and then his wings folded behind him naturally,

“Come on, let’s get you something to eat” Gabriel led Cas into the kitchen and fixed up a couple PB&Js for the two of them. Cas was cautious about eating just like the first time he had a real meal but he seemed to like the sweet taste of peanut butter and jelly. He ate up quickly with Gabriel. Gabe looked over Cas and gave a smile. The pair of them sat up straight suddenly and after a while of them not moving, they both looked at each other,

“What?” Dean asked, noticing their reactions, begging for it to be nothing. They have enough on right now,

“Was that… Jophiel?” Cas asked,

“He can sense you now that you’re a fledgling again” Gabriel replied,

“Who’s Jophiel?” Dean asked,

“The anointed protector of the fledglings” Gabriel explained, “He can sense Cas’ mind has been brought back to when he was a fledgling” Gabriel was calm but he did start painting a cupboard near him with some kind of sigil, “He’s coming to take Cas to heaven”

“And what would happen then?” Dean asked a little hesitant,

“Well, Jophiel will protect him from the other angels but after the spell wears off and Cas isn’t a fledgling anymore, he has no obligation to”

“And Cas is stuck in the lion’s den” Bobby nodded, “So how do we stop him?”

“Well, I’m hoping these wards will do the job. I don’t want to reveal myself unless I have to. As an archangel, I can dismiss him” Gabriel nodded. He went to the door and started to paint warding on the window panes. Everyone could start to hear the high pitched noise as Jophiel got closer. Cas covered his ears particularly and slid under the table, his wings creating a tent of darkness to hide him within the shadows of the room. The high pitched noise grew louder and all the windows and glass shattered, including the ones with warding, “Right I forgot, guardian. Not just a regular angel” Gabriel muttered. Cas slipped out from the table and rushed through the halls as the rumbling started but Jophiel didn’t appear where Gabriel expected him to. He appeared in the hall in front of Cas. He was a tall man compared to Castiel’s current form. He had no hair and dark skin and eyes. His face looked hardened until his eyes fell on him. Cas backed away from him as he sunk down to his level,

“I will not harm you little one” He said, “I only come to bring you to heaven. You will be safe there, I will protect you” Cas didn’t move. Jophiel’s voice was smooth and deep, almost monotone. Cas almost wanted to go with him but he knew he couldn’t. Stopping the apocalypse certainly meant he’d betrayed his brothers and sisters to do so and he could not face them, “You seem familiar to me. What is your name, youngster?”

“Castiel”

“Castiel? What happened to you?”

“A spell” Cas replied, “But I don’t remember”

“I will keep you safe” Jophiel said,

“I can’t go back there” Cas replied. He started to back up again. Jophiel didn’t reach for him, he was patient,

“I’m sorry for what happened to you back then. It was under my watch and there was no excuse for it. I promise to do right by you. If you let me, I can protect you from the demons” Jophiel bowed his head, “I won’t let it happen again. I promise you that” Jophiel held out his hand, “You can trust me” Cas looked at his hand, tempted,

“Cas” He turned sharply and Dean was behind him at the start of the hall,

“Stay back Winchester, I know what you’re capable of” Jophiel poised his blade,

“No Jophiel” Cas said,

“Castiel, she’s still down here. She will take advantage of your form and she will come for you”

“And if I go with you?”

“I will take you to heaven, out of her reach”

“And the angels up there? What do you think they’ll do? I’ve been on the receiving end of their judgement before, that’s before I helped avert the apocalypse” Jophiel dropped eye contact,

“That was a mistake” Cas narrowed his eyes at that,

“Mistake?” Dean questioned behind him, Cas turned back to Dean again, momentarily remembering he was there. From his reaction he clearly didn’t know what they were talking about. Obviously he’d not seen fit to tell Dean about it. He hinted towards his wing over his shoulder, opening it a little. He watched Dean’s eyes rake over them before a realisation hit him and his face uncrinkled, eyes going cold before they turned back to Jophiel,

“Heaven isn’t safe for me anymore than earth is”

“Castiel”

“I’ll take my chances with the demon” Cas backed up now, going to head towards Dean when Jophiel suddenly reached forward and grabbed his wrist. On instinct, Cas’ feathers ruffled up and his knife slid down his sleeve though he had no intention to use it on his brother, “Let go of me” He hissed, struggling in the iron grip,

“I’m sorry Castiel but I must take you back” Dean rushed down the hall and Jophiel stood up, pointing his blade at him, “Stay back” Sam moved into the hallway with Gabriel,

“Let him go Jophiel” Gabriel ordered. Jophiel nearly fell over from shock,

“Gabriel, you’re alive?” He took a step back in awe of the archangel. Gabriel’s gaze moved to Cas who was in the process of prying Jophiel’s fingers off his wrist. Jophiel noticed his gaze and immediately opened his hand, freeing Castiel. Cas wandered to that side of the hall, using Dean as cover as he watched the angel,

“Jophiel, I will take care of Castiel. On earth”

“But-”

“I’m serious. Go back, don’t tell the other angels where we are” Jophiel nodded and left. Cas gave a sigh of relief, rubbing the red marks on his wrist. Gabriel took a breath, “A demon?”

“I had trouble with a demon once” Cas replied,

“No, no no” Dean shook his head, “You see, he causes trouble” He pointed at Gabriel, “Demons cause harm” Cas tilted his head at him, not appreciating the tone,

“I was watching over my younger brother, we had a problem”

“D’you fight it?”

“Samandriel wasn’t going to outrun a demon. I was older, I had to fight” Sam looked up at that, noticing the familiar details. Dean clearly recognised them too, clearing his throat and swiveling his head a little,

“It explains the blade” Gabriel shrugged, “Anything good on TV?” He turned back into the living room. Sam and Dean just sort of ignored him and went back to whatever it is they do when they’re not hunting, strengthening their own self-loathing. Cas sat on the couch by Gabriel, “Hey, watch this” Gabriel picked up the TV remote and turned the TV on, “Welcome to the future” Cas rolled his eyes, moving his attention to preening his wings. They pretty much ignored each other, Gabriel absentmindedly started raking the feathers on the back of Cas’ wings where he couldn’t reach to preen. It took some time for him to notice the bumpy skin under the feathers before he started parting the feathers to get a look, “You weren’t kidding about having trouble with a demon” Cas froze,

“That uh-” Gabriel moved further along the wings,

“That one looks really bad, must have been one hell of a fight”

“That’s not…” Cas ducked his head as Gabriel continued, “Gabriel”

“I mean, I’ve seen some wounds by a demon but not this numerous. Looks like it was trying to tear you apart”

“Gabriel!” Cas said firmer, making Gabe pause, “That’s not from the demon attack” Gabriel stopped, looking over the assortment of faint scars criss crossing across the surface of his wings,

“Oh” Cas didn’t say anything more meaning it was the end of that discussion. Gabriel went back to the TV and Cas turned back to preening, both not paying attention to their decided tasks anymore. Gabriel turned the TV off and Cas was worried he’d have to talk, “I’m bored” He looked to Cas and smiled. Cas knew that smile. He couldn’t get away fast enough and Gabriel grabbed him, zapping them both to the top of one of the many stacks of cars outside. Bobby was already out there at work, managing to catch the moment Gabriel appeared with the squirming fledgling in his arms. Cas didn’t have much leverage in the hold. His wings and back were against Gabriel’s chest and both arms where held tightly,

“Let go” Cas could only chirp as the archangel held him tightly,

“Nope, we gotta exercise those wings” Gabriel smirked, turning to look at Bobby, “High enough?” He questioned. He loosened his grip enough to let Cas fight his way out before giving him a push over the edge. Immediately Cas’ wings spread out to stop his fall, acting like a parachute but they didn’t slow him enough as he reached the ground. Luckily there was something other than dirt to hit. Dean managed to catch him… sort of. He acted like a crash mat and they both fell to the ground. Gabriel appeared next to them, “Not high enough” He shook his head,

“Just watch, he’ll have you on the roof next” Dean muttered. Jody came walking up the drive and when she did, Cas panicked slightly, folding his wings tight into his back in hopes she didn’t see.

“That’s Jody” Dean said, “She’s another friend, it’s alright, she knows about it all”

“Did he forget again?” She asked,

“Yeah, he’s completely regressed now” The spell worked well, he remembered nothing about his past life and all his memories from his earlier years were fresh in his mind. Gabriel really had no idea how bad it got after he left.


	5. Chapter 5

Everyone got used to Cas now. The young fledgling had zero outbursts like before. Now that he was officially a fledgling, his grace had dematured and it couldn’t do more than flicker the lights if he got particularly scared. To be honest he didn’t even get scared now. He was mostly ok. As he slept, Gabriel watched over him. Cas had a blanket but he mostly used his wings as a blanket. You wouldn’t see them unless you were specifically looking for them but they were heavily scared. He wanted to know why. He put a hand on Castiel’s forehead and whispered a few words in enochian. He too then fell asleep on the sofa. He was in the garden in heaven, watching a young fledgling running for his life, this didn’t look like play. Gabriel could see the bruises, his pale skin turning blue and black around his angelic robes. His black feathered wings gave away his age, he was not long into his third mellennia. His wings had only started to develop their flight feathers and the soft downy plumage coated the majority of his wings like a cloud of fluff. Desperate to get away from whatever was chasing him, he sought refuge in heaven’s garden. He curled his wings down, keeping them out of sight as he hunkered down into the long grass, hiding just under a large bush. His wings blended in with the shadows around him and he kept quiet. That’s when Gabriel saw them, a group of three angels. All of them older but not fully matured angels yet. Their grey, white and brown wings were half way through fledging and had just enough baby down to hinder flying and their flight feathers hadn’t grown to their proper size. If Gabriel had to guess, he’d say they were a few centuries away from becoming full fledged angels at least.

“Castiel!” They called out. Gabriel looked over at the smaller angel that hadn’t moved from his hiding spot, having tucked himself into such a small ball he could have broken his spine. Gabe could hear his breathing increase but he avoided whimpering and giving away his position. That was when Gabriel spotted Joshua in the garden, gently nurturing brightly coloured tulips out of their buds. He looked up at the angels as they prowled the garden, looking for Castiel. Then his eyes fell on the shaking bundle in the bush and immediately his face hardened into a scowl as he turned to the angels,

“Hey” He called to them, immediately getting their attention, “What are you doing here? You have no permission to be here” Joshua was always protective of the garden, it was pretty exclusive to only the angels he trusted to help, even the archangels needed permission to enter. The angels immediately backed off, heads lowered,

“Sorry sir” They said. Once they left, Joshua went over to Castiel’s hiding place, practically dragging him out because he was trembling too much to move. The fledgling flinched at Joshua, fearing he’d get into more trouble but Joshua softened with him, returning to his usual nurturing nature.

“Where did you get these?” He asked. Cas flinched again at his voice. There were small cuts on Cas’ shoulders and wings. It was clear by the fact they weren’t healed that they were done by an angel blade or maybe more than one, “It’s alright, I’m not angry at you” Cas finally looked up at Joshua with sad blue eyes. They were bloodshot and clearly he had been crying. Despite maybe being close to what a human would call a five year old, Joshua still cradled the boy on his lap, a brown feathered wing wrapping around him as he called for Michael. Michael appeared to Joshua, probably expecting small talk but instead he had a young, injured angel to deal with.

“Joshua I don’t have time for this” He replied,

“Michael, these angels have gone too far. It’s one thing to tease and chase your brother, it is another to stab him” Joshua replied, “This needs addressed”

“Who did this?” Michael asked Cas. Cas seemed too terrified to speak to Michael. Considering this may have been one of the very rare occasions he’s seen the archangel. Cas opened his mouth to say something but merely a squeak came out. Gabriel shook his head at his older brother’s actions. Michael wasn’t patient enough for the young child, giving him a look that made the fledgling retreat back into a cocoon of black feathers. That’s when Michael noticed the wounds. They were shallow wounds, meant to inflict pain rather than damage. They were short, some still bleeding. Michael took a hold of the wing as he inspected them, his palm turning red with a single touch. Cas panicked slightly at this action and the wing started to flap a bit, sending out damaged feathers that Michael also took note of,

“It’s alright” Joshua tried to calm the fledgling but he was too distressed. He didn’t calm until Michael let the wing slip from his grip. There were areas where it looked like the angels grabbed fistfuls of feathers. It broke Gabe’s heart to see such violence enacted on such a young child, especially Cas. Michael’s gaze softened more and more in pity as he observed the child. Then he moved on to the rest of him. There were rings of bruises on his arms where they must have held him down, his fingernails covered in dirt and skin from where he fought back to get away and more scratches on his back where the bullies attacked him. Once he was done with his inspection, he let Cas go and the young fledgling sunk back into his wings again, making himself as small as he could. Joshua continued to cradle the young child and Cas started to nestle into the elder’s arms for comfort, “Those angels are barbaric, this shouldn’t go unnoticed” Joshua said,

“No, it shouldn’t” Michael replied, “Any angel with that much violence towards a brother has no place in the armies of heaven” He disappeared leaving Cas with Joshua. Gabriel looked over all of Cas’ injuries again,

“I should never have left you unprotected” He lowered his head. He continued to search through the memories, possibly hoping something better happens to the kid. Joshua couldn’t leave the garden unattended to take him to another angel to heal him and his own powers were limited to his profession. He couldn’t heal Cas himself. Instead, he started to teach Cas about all the different plants in the garden. The fledgling taking in information about each plant. Joshua smiled at the young one’s fascination as a bee flew by. He held out his hand to it and the insect rest there,

“What’s that?” He asked, eyes wide as it crawled along his hand,

“That is a bee” Joshua replied, “Bees are very important to plants. They’re responsible for pollinating each plant and also create honey” Joshua led the young fledgling and the bee to a large hive, “They live in large colonies like these called hives” A smile graced Castiel’s face briefly before it turned into a serious concentrating face and he lifted his hand up with the bee in it to the hive. The bee flew off and into one of the many little holes in the hive. Gabriel smiled at that,

“Well now I know where his bee fascination came from” He said,

“Hello?” Gabriel’s head whipped around when he heard a voice. It was Balthazar, a young version but he was not a fledgling anymore. He was fully matured and was currently in training. He entered the garden cautiously, knowing Joshua was very particular about who comes in, “Castiel? Are you here? Cassie?” He called,

“Balthazar!” Cas called back, “Look at the bees” Cas had a bigger smile on his face than earlier. Balthazar physically deflated with relief once he found his friend,

“Cassie I was worried about you. I hadn’t seen you in ages” Despite Balthazar moving out of the nursery, the angels clearly still met up. Balthazar froze as he got to Cas and saw his injuries, “What happened?” He asked, anger tainting his voice though he knew he had to leash it in front of Cas. Castiel’s head lowered,

“They caught me again” He said,

“That’s it, they’ve crossed a line. I’m going to Michael about it if it’s the last thing I do”

“No need” Joshua replied, “I have already informed Michael and he will be dealing with them now” Balthazar hovered his hand over Cas. Though he was still young and only learning to use his grace, he still tried but only managed to dull a couple of bruises. He sighed,

“Sorry Cassie, I’m still not strong enough” He seemed dejected while saying this,

“You should take him to Raphael” Joshua replied, “Afterall he is the angel of healing” Balthazar nodded and left the garden with Cas. The young fledgling sticking close to his brother as they walked across heaven, worried they’d run into the angels again. Gabriel had taken Cas to see Raphael before and Cas always seemed a little intimidated by him. Since all was peaceful right now, Raphael wasn’t busy. He looked up at the sound of footsteps,

“Michael said I’d be expecting company” Raphael replied, “What did you do? Scrape your knee?” His eyes only then examining him, “Oh, so you’re the one that got attacked. I was expecting a more full grown angel… or a dead one” He brought Cas up, inspecting his wings first as they were in the worst shape. Gabriel couldn’t even look at Cas’ wings right now, “They really got you good didn’t they” Castiel was silent, he was clearly fighting the urge to curl up into a ball again, wings flinching under Raphael’s touch and limbs squirming quietly. As they were shallow cuts and bruises, Raphael had no trouble healing them. Gabriel noticed movement by the door though. Movement that caught Cas’ eye too. His wings fluffed up instinctively and Raphael grumbled about how he couldn’t see the kid’s wounds when he noticed a couple angels at the door, “Well? Are you coming in or what?” He asked them sternly. Balthazar narrowed his eyes at them,

“Joel and Hillary” He said, “Come to finish the job?” Balthazar shuddered with anger and he stood between them and Cas, wings outstretched as an intimidating display. Gabriel had to admit that, coupled with the clear emotion on his face, was enough to scare even him.

“This is them?” Raphael asked unphased by Balthazar’s display, “Well that’s great, Michael’s been looking for them for a while” Michael appeared behind them since Raphael must have called him. It looks like he had already caught Ila. He must have suspected her since she still had scratches on her face. And with that, he took them away. They were gone, never to be heard from again at least they should have. Joel died on the way down. Those who knew him and liked him blamed Cas for it. Castiel kept close to Balthazar who had to constantly defend him from those angels. Gabriel couldn’t continue as he watched Cas get more distant with everyone. Everyone but the younger fledglings like Samandriel and Uriel, the ones who knew what it was like to be picked on by the older ones. As time went on, he was quiet and he didn’t play much, even when his younger siblings begged him in the cutest way that Gabriel could never resist. In one memory, Cas was still a fledgling but slightly older. He was sitting on the fields of heaven by himself watching the younger fledglings playing. He was sitting against a single tree as Balthazar came up to him,

“You ok?” He asked,

“Fine” Cas replied deflated,

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing” Cas continued to watch them,

“I think Iris is planning a field trip down to earth for them”

“All of them?” Cas asked,

“Oh no, just your division. Since you’re the oldest there I imagine you’re gonna have to supervise” Cas sighed, “You sure you’re ok?”

“Hillary just died” He replied, “Her soul went to heaven”

“Have you talked to her yet?”

“No”

“Why not?”

“Balthazar I shouldn’t. We’re not meant to go into people’s heavens. Besides, I don’t think she’d even remember me” As Balthazar had discussed, Iris came up to the fledglings and told them about their field trip. All the fledglings were jumping up and down excitedly and she tried to calm them for a while. The division had been shrinking since angels have started to mature and move on. Cas was close to maturing too but even now, his wings looked too underdeveloped to fly properly. Iris beckoned him over and he got up from his place,

“Have fun” Balthazar called over jokily. Cas just shot him a look as he wandered over,

“Castiel, I’m going to need your help to look after a few of them” There were only about 50 left as opposed to the hundreds there used to be. Still, help was needed to get everyone down to earth safely. Iona made sure everyone was waiting patiently in heaven for their turn with Jophiel's oversight as Iris and Anna started to bring them down. Castiel was one of the first to get down so he could supervise them on the ground. Him and Samandriel who was still merely a toddler. He was still small enough to be held and as they were left alone for a while Samandriel went over to his older brother and reached up to him, wanting to be held again. Cas just picked him up, holding him to his hip and Samandriel buried his face in Cas’ shoulder. He hadn’t had a nap today, this was not going to be exciting for him. As they waited for more angels to be brought down, Cas felt a presence. He spun round on hearing rustling,

“Aww look, two wittle fwedgwings” A mocking voice said in the treeline. Gabriel froze at the sound of that voice. Cas could feel the danger and wanted to run but the voice just seemed to circle them, he didn’t know where it was coming from as he turned around to try and find it, “Even better, it’s Castiel”

“Who’s there? And how do you know my name?” Cas asked. The voice chuckled,

“Don’t you remember me brother?” A figure stepped out of the tree line, eyes black and clothed in human clothes but the face was still the same,

“I-Ila?” He looked at her with shock and fear,

“Bingo” She said,

“You’re a demon?”

“You didn’t think human life would stick for me would it? After Joel died on the way here, I vowed revenge” Cas took a step away from her, still holding Samandriel in his arms, “Please, you think running will save you? There is nowhere for you to run down here where I won’t find you” Cas knew it too. He put Samandriel down and Samandriel clung to his side,

“Sammie run” Cas said to the fledgling, “Go now” And Samandriel did. He ran to the trees away from Ila and Cas gave him a ten second headstart before he went to run too,

“I love it when they run” He heard Ila say to herself. Ila appeared in front of Cas, blocking his escape route and she held a knife in her hands. An angel blade in fact. The one thing that could kill him down here. He fell back as she pushed him. He tried to run the opposite way but she tackled him on the ground. She was practically sitting on him, straddling his waist while she tried to stab him with the blade in her hands. He held her wrists. He managed to slow down the movement of the blade however it still started to creep closer to his chest. Gabriel looked on, helplessly. This was only a memory and he knew Cas made it out but his instinct still compelled him to want to protect this child. When he knew he couldn’t counteract her, Cas pushed her off balance with his legs and let go of the blade as it stabbed into the grass beside him as she fell forward onto his chest. He pushed Ila off and rolled over, grabbing the knife before she could. Gabe spotted Samandriel hiding behind one of the trees, watching the fight. Ila circled Cas like a hungry predator and Cas followed her movements. She went to lunge at him but Cas lunged too with the knife and she backed away after a hiss in pain, holding her arm. She appeared behind him and put her arms around his neck. He fought back trying to pry her off, pushing his fingers into the wound on her arm and eventually used his wings to hit her away but he fell to the ground a little breathless. She kicked him hard in the stomach and pried the knife from his loosened grip. Before he could recover or protect himself, she stabbed it into his shoulder and he yelled out in pain,

“Cas” Gabriel winced as the knife dug into his shoulder.

“Stop it!” Samandriel was crying next to the tree now. Ila looked up at his crying which gave Cas the opportunity to get the jump on her. He grabbed her arm and kicked his leg out, knocking her to the ground but she gripped the knife again and pulled it painfully from Castiel’s shoulder. He yelled out again. His breaths came out shallow but he couldn’t stay down. Not with Samandriel closeby watching. She positioned herself over him, one knee on his wing to keep him pinned. Her eyes were lit with the range of choices. Limbs? Skin? Deep torso? Head? Wings. She looked down at the wing under her knee hungrily, ready to inflict more pain when more shouting was heard,

“Shut up you little brat or you’re next” She called up at Samandriel. Now there were three fledglings sitting by the tree, screaming at her. Ila looked up and saw Anna and Iris coming at her. She fled, “This isn’t over Castiel” She warned before leaving,

“Castiel!” Iris went to his side, “Are you alright?” Cas was moaning and crying, his head falling back onto the ground and pain wracked his body. He shuddered at the pain as his adrenaline came down,

“We need to get him back to heaven now” Anna picked Cas up and he groaned again. Gabriel followed anxiously. His breathing was sporadic and Gabriel couldn’t take his eyes off the blood soaking through Cas’ angelic robe. He felt nervous like Cas might die, forgetting that this is a memory and Cas was currently laying beside him perfectly fine. His eyes opened and closed and Gabriel knew he was about to pass out. “It’s ok Castiel” Anna tried to sound calm, “I’ve got you, I’m taking you to Raphael now” His eyes closed again and everything went dark. Gabriel waited, standing in darkness only hearing the voices of others around him until Cas opened his eyes and everything was light again. He woke up in Raphael’s nest.

“Hey kiddo” Balthazar was there next to him,

“Balthazar” Cas acknowledged, sitting up. He looked down at his chest but he was healed now. All that was left was the blood on his robe,

“Sammie here was telling me all about what happened” Balthazar continued, looking at the three year old on his lap,

“Kid’s a bit dramatic if you ask me” Raphael muttered, “The wound wasn’t that deep”

“But it’s true, isn’t it Castiel?” Samandriel looked over to Cas, “Ila came out and you told me to run and then you ran and she, she…” Cas smiled as Samandriel got ahead of himself so much that he couldn’t form a sentence properly and just stuttered. Cas stood up and Samandriel reached out to him. He just held the toddler to his hip like he did on earth and they walked out together,

“Thank you Raphael” Cas said politely as he left,

“Yeah kid, just don’t come here too often” Raphael replied. They all walked out together,

“So Ila is a demon” Balthazar stated more than asked,

“A demon wanting revenge” Cas gave a small shudder, thinking back to those black eyes,

“Anna and Jophiel took a couple others to hunt her down but no luck so far” Balthazar said. Cas noticed a few angels giving them second glances as they passed, “You need to change” Balthazar said. That’s when Cas remembered he had blood on him,

“Oh yeah” He walked back to the nursery and into his room. It was plain. The walls weren’t personalised or anything, not even his nest and angels like to personalise their nests. Probably because he would be moving up soon, Gabriel thought. Gabriel was pulled out of Castiel’s memories when Cas woke up. He woke up too. Cas looked around, a little disoriented but he wasn’t forgetting anymore. The spell had worked its magic and now they were counting the days until the spell wore off, the Winchesters just really wanted their usual serious Castiel, their friend. Personally Gabriel like the bite sized version he was now but he wasn't the same Cas as before, he hadn't grown up yet and more things than usual just sail over his head because he's not aware of the changes to earth in the thousands of years he's missing in his memory.


	6. Chapter 6

Gabriel had to leave once to make a Castiel related disturbance somewhere to throw off the angels that were hunting him down. When he did try to leave Cas stopped him. He held onto Gabriel’s sleeve,

“Where are you going?” He asked Gabe. Gabriel gave a smile at that,

“I’ll be back” He smirked, “I’m just going to make a little trouble. Heard some things on angel radio that I didn’t like” Cas looked to the floor, realising the one person he actually knew around him was leaving. Gabriel furrowed his brow, “You alright?”

“Fine” His sad blue eyes bore into him. He gave a sigh and sat down on the nearest chair, pulling Cas along with him,

“Listen Cassie, I’ll be ok. I won’t be gone for long either, you’ll be fine” He ruffled his hair, “Plus, Sam and Dean will look after you while I’m gone, Dean’s good with kids and Sam’s funny” He tried to get some kind of smile from the boy but he just looked sad, “Cas?” Cas sighed, nodding his head and stepping away. It took a while for Gabriel to remember this scene before, “Oh” He nodded. He pat him on the top of the head as he passed. Before he left, he went to the boys, “Don’t leave him alone, you hear me?” He said to them, complete seriousness on his face. The expression seemed so foreign on the cheeky trickster’s face but it sat there heavily until they nodded,

“Why? Will he try to follow you?”

“I don’t know what he’s like now but every time I left him alone, he got into something” He shot a look at Castiel. Cas just rolled his eyes at that, “Just watch out for him will ya? I’ll be back” And with that, he left. Cas didn’t know what to do with himself. He’d always had to say goodbye to brothers and sisters. Not all of them came back. His eyes moved to the floor and he wandered to a seat. Upon Gabriel’s orders, he was not left on his own. Dean sat down next to him and switched the TV on. Though he originally was just thinking about Gabriel leaving again, his eyes unconsciously turned to the TV and he was quickly distracted by Dr Sexy MD. He even smiled as an overly dramatic doctor started slapping people. One man looked at her like she had two heads and she slapped him again,

“Why can’t you just tell me what you want” She cried,

“I don’t think he wants to be slapped in the face” Dean mumbled. Cas made a quiet hum in amusement but Dean still heard it. He looked at Cas and smiled,

“Seriously?” She continued, “You are brilliant and you’re a coward. A brilliant coward” Cas furrowed his eyebrows, the language was all wrong for the time he was used to. He could make out Sam, Dean and Bobby just fine but this was something else. Can seriously be used as its own question?

“Is she complimenting him or insulting him?” He asked,

“I don’t even think she knows” Dean shook his head with a laugh, “That’s Dr Piccolo, sexy yet earnest”

“But how can she show sincerity with a slap?”

“It’s a shock thing”

“It’s abuse” Dean gave an amused snort as Cas turned back to the TV. The pair watched on. They were silent but both still benefited from each other’s company. As Dr Sexy himself made his first appearance in the episode, it was obvious who the show was about, Cas didn’t even need to question it. A big enough deal was made about his appearance even two year olds could tell. The female doctors and nurses swooned as he made a slow motion walk down the corridor. The male doctors and nurses all looked up at him in adoration and nod, impressed. Cas looked to see Dean’s face slightly mirroring the male doctors and nurses. He was a little confused but watched on. Sam walked in on the two,

“Ugh, man. How are you not put off by that show now?” He asked,

“Hey” Dean protested. Cas tilted his head at the remark, clearly not remembering what happened. Dean noticed the look and gave a small smirk, “Gabriel stuck us into that show. Well, that and a herpes advert, japanese game show, a sitcom and some cheesy crime drama”

“That sounds just like him” Cas muttered,

“He went by the trickster but you found us and managed to let us know he wasn’t a trickster before he sent you somewhere else. Then we kinda figured he was an angel after the way he reacted to the Michael and Lucifer thing” Cas looked deep in thought now, the boys suspected he was trying to remember. The lights around them started to flicker and everyone looked up, even Cas, “Is that you?” Dean asked, Cas looked to Dean and shook his head once, “So who is doing that?” Dean asked, looking back to them, “Is it another angel?”

“That’s not an angel”

“So that goes back to the usual suspects, ghosts and demons. Come with me” Dean took Cas’ hand and led him into the basement to the iron bunker, “You should be safe here”

“What about you?” Cas asked,

“We gotta figure out what’s here and stop it” Dean replied, “Don’t worry, we do this for a living, just stay here” He closed the door somewhat but still kept it open so Cas doesn’t feel like he’s trapped. The iron door would stop any ghosts and the devil’s trap outside it would stop any demons. And with that, Cas was alone. He sat on the only seat in there, looking around and he did not like being alone. Especially when he didn't know what was happening outside. He listened for anything at all, he kept his ear to the door but he couldn’t hear anything. Then there was a rumble, so strong it cracked the floor underneath him. He looked down and the devil’s trap below him was broken. He closed the iron door the whole way now.

“Get that door open” He heard a voice behind it. It was a harsh woman’s voice and Cas stayed by the door to keep it shut. As he heard demons touching the door, he could hear their skin sizzling and them yelling in pain. The voice just growled at them and eventually three demons overpowered Cas’ fledgling strength. He backed up when he realised that they were going to open it. His blade slipped down his sleeve as the three entered and surrounded him. He narrowed his eyes at them as they approached. Despite only being a fledgling, he still knew how to defend himself. Balthazar taught him after his run-in with Ila, Michael even gave him a blade for protection the next time he went to earth. His wings twitched with anticipation though the demons mistook it for fear. They smiled and as one lunged at him, Cas stabbed him in the chest, turning to face the others with such a speed, the demons got whiplash. Then a loud bang was heard. Bobby shot the one outside with a salt round. She yelled and ordered the other demons to take care of him. Then she entered the bunker, making sure not to touch the iron door or the walls. As she saw Dean rushing towards them, she dropped a can of holy oil in front of the door and lit it. Dean was stopped and Sam was helping Bobby with the other two demons. Cas readied his knife again. She had no intention of fighting yet. She was calm. She smiled at him, flashing her eyes black. Cas was waiting for her to make her move. When she didn’t, he lunged at her. She dodged him and grabbed his wrist and the back of his neck, slamming him hard into the nearest wall. He pushed her away with his wings but as she backed up, she revealed that she was now holding the knife, “Hello again brother” She finally spoke, “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you like this. You know I couldn’t pass off this opportunity” Cas froze,

“Ila?” He asked. She smiled again,

“We should meet up more often” She said, her voice was very patronising, “But as patient as I am, I don’t think there will be a next time. I told you this wasn’t over little brother” Cas looked to the door but he couldn’t cross the flames. All three hunters were a little preoccupied with demons to douse the fire. He was trapped. When he looked back she was inches away from his face and she pushed him into the wall and was holding the knife at his cheek. She only applied a little pressure to prove her point, she was angry, fuming and as Cas looked at her, something in him snapped. He bit the inside of his cheek, narrowing his eyes at her,

“No” He said. Ila was confused but she kept a straight face. She took the knife away from his face and leaned back a little,

“Excuse me?” She asked,

“I'm tired of taking the blame for you”

“Really?” Her eyes turned black again and she pushed him harder into the wall, “I was cast out of heaven because of you. Joel died because of you!” Now it was Castiel’s turn to get mad. He pushed her off of him with as much strength as he could muster,

“No, you were cast out of heaven for attacking me” He said, “I did nothing but defend myself” Ila was taken aback by this surge of anger from the quiet little angel who was always too shy to defend himself, “You attacked first, what happened to you was your fault” Cas continued, this weight on his chest had been there for long enough. Ila tilted her head to the side, she could tell that this had been building for some time,

“At least someone gave you enough grief for Joel’s death”

“It was not what I deserved” He continued, “I had done nothing to you. What compelled you to try and kill me that day I do not know but don’t you dare try to tell me it was my fault” Ila was at a loss. Cas was right, what did they expect to happen once they had finished with him. He would have been covered in scars and cuts and bruises, there was no way they could just tell Michael he fell into a thorn bush or something. They would always have been thrown out. Joel would have died if Cas had escaped them or not. However as these words reached Ila, they stopped. Her heart was too cold to take this in, too blackened with hate to accept such a truth, she based her whole human and demon life around this one vendetta. She regained her resolve,

“And yet, you were the one who went to Joshua and Michael. You’re the reason we were caught. As far as I’m concerned, you’re still guilty for Joel’s death” She replied, lifting the knife up again,

“If I didn’t, you’d be having this conversation with Balthazar” Cas said lowly. Ila lunged at him and he dodged to the side. When she tried again, he flapped his wings to lift himself, using the stool to push up out of her reach. As he landed on the ground behind her, he shoved her into the stool, knocking her to the floor but as he made a reach for the blade, she grabbed him. Despite his efforts, he wouldn’t have been able to avoid her for long in the small bunker space and the furniture only served as an obstacle for him. She tackled him on his back and she used her knee to pin him down. He squirmed under her weight, trying his best to push her away. She held the blade high, ready to stab Cas. He held her wrist with both hands to try and stop her and she used both hands to push it towards him. Cas again tried to unbalance her and they wrestled with the blade, movement was slow in any direction. Finally she pried the blade out of his hands, raising it up out of his grasp and used her free hand to grip his wrists, pinning them to his chest. She raised the blade high, eyes darkening with the anticipation. Cas closed his eyes, turning his head away when he realised he couldn’t stop her. She stabbed the blade down into Cas' nearest wing, piercing through the flesh and Cas screamed loudly causing Bobby and the Winchesters to react, even the demons they were fighting paused at it. She pulled the blade out, causing more pain and screaming and Cas was already starting to recoil in pain. Through the screaming, the lights flickered violently around them and Dean could feel an outburst about to come from the young angel. Ila ignored the warning signs unlike her fellow demons who wisely retreated. She drew the blade to his throat when an explosion of blue grace erupted from Cas and hit her back. The grace retreated back immediately like it was attached by a rubber band and Cas took a breath, winded. His grace still wasn't matured for this type of use. Ila stood there wide eyed for a minute while Cas was still on the ground, curling into a ball. She was unsure how to react. She took a step towards him again and he inched away from her, unable to drag himself far on the ground. Before she got any closer, she froze, wincing in pain before falling to the ground with an angel blade in her back. Dean was behind her, still with his arm outstretched from where he'd thrown it. The fire was put out and Dean went over to Cas who was still on the ground,

“Hey Cas, it's ok” He said, scooping him up from the floor, “It's ok, you're ok now” He pulled his friend close and Cas hugged him, burying his face in Dean's shoulder. He was shivering in pain and he stayed in Dean's embrace until he passed out. Once he had, Dean looked to Sam and Bobby, “As soon as Gabriel leaves” He said, “They were waiting for him. Bobby, you know how to treat wings?” Bobby looked over at the wound,

“It's a lot of damage” He said. Dean grimaced at the comment, “I'll make it work. Bring him upstairs” Upstairs also had a couple dead demons. Sam was kept busy taking care of the bodies while Dean carefully carried the kid up and laid him down on the couch. Bobby took out the suture kit and applied a towel with pressure to stem the bleeding. Cas groaned and squirmed at that, his eyes opened slightly and looked up at Dean with such fear and pain. Dean just gently stroked his hair, hoping to comfort him in whatever small way he could. Bobby moved the wing and noticed the through wound, “Alright, this ain't gonna be pleasant” He said. Cas sat up, looking over his shoulder at the wing. He took a noticeable deep breath as he saw Bobby coming at him with the needle and thread. He winced and hissed in pain, grabbing on to Dean's arm as Bobby stitched up both sides of the wing, “You’re alright, just keep it relaxed” It was a slow process. Cas was just silently begging for it to end as the needle continued to puncture the sensitive skin of his wing. Bobby finished off by wrapping a bandage around it and nodded to Dean once it was done. Dean nodded back, looking down at Cas who was still holding on to him,

“Hey Cas, you should get some rest ok? I bet that fight really tired you out” Dean pat him on the shoulder,

“My grace, it felt like it exploded. For a split second it was like it left my chest and I just felt so weak” Bobby had left by that point and it was just Dean and Cas in the room. Cas lay down on the sofa where he's been sleeping the whole time. He lay his head on the arm of the chair and Dean put a blanket over him,

“Does it still hurt?”

“Immensely” Cas lowered his gaze as his eyelids became heavy. His injured wing hung limply around him, not daring to move after Bobby had fixed it. He slowly drifted off. Dean decided to watch over him for a short while, stroking his hair thoughtfully while he slept.


	7. Chapter 7

Gabriel got himself a motel room. He stumbled in at 3 in the morning, severely injured. He did what he could to try and treat his injuries but he never was good at that. He called up the boys and a very sleepy Sam answered,

“Yeah?” He asked,

“Hey Samsquatch” He answered,

“How did you get my number?” Sam asked,

“Waw, we all know where your priorities lie” He joked,

“What do you want?” Sam sighed, he clearly wasn’t a morning person,

“Well, ya see… I may have run into an old pal and by old pal I mean one who wants to kill me”

“Are you ok?” Gabriel looked down at his stomach which was still gushing blood,

“Well by the Winchester definition of ok, I’m fine” He chuckled,

“Where are you?”

“Outside Minneapolis”

“I’m on my way” And with that, Sam hung up and Gabriel lay back on his bed. He kept a towel pressed to his wound and kept still. He didn’t need to sleep but he sure did feel like he would. There wasn’t much more he could do but wait for Sam to come and help. He had texted more precise directions and Sam arrived fairly quickly, probably breaking a few speed limits to get there. Sam guessed Gabriel was in some kind of trouble but the archangel was slowly bleeding out. He had attempted to stitch up his wound but blood still leaked out. “Hold still” Sam took out his first aid kit. As he worked on Gabriel’s wound, Gabriel noticed the ring of blue across Sam’s face,

“Who gave you the shiner?” He asked,

“Demons” Sam said, not really paying attention to what Gabriel asked,

“Demons?” Gabriel asked, “At Bobby’s house?”

“Yeah, don’t worry, Cas is alright”

“Well what happened?”

“They attacked us. One of them was strong enough to break the devil’s trap around him” Sam continued to restitch the wound, “They definitely were after him. One in particular, she sent those demons after us and blocked the door to the bunker with holy fire”

“Do you know who she was?”

“No, but she sure scared Cas. Dean killed her. Bobby had to stitch Cas up” Sam paused to look up at Gabriel from his work, “Cas managed to throw the demon back” Gabriel raised his eyebrow, “Like, with his mind, or his grace anyway. It took a lot out of him, he passed out on the couch pretty quickly”

“Damn” Gabriel sat up, “Did any demons escape?”

“Yeah a few retreated when they saw the lights flickering”

“Now that’s just sloppy Sam, we should get back”

“With an injury like that, I don't trust you to go anywhere” Sam replied, “Look, Dean and Bobby aren't gonna let anything happen to Cas. Rest, we’ll get driving in the morning”

“You realise I could just zap us there right?”

“I don’t think you can, you aren’t healing”

“It was a heavenly weapon, what did you expect?”

“Get some sleep” Sam ordered,

“Will you tell me a bedtime story?” Gabriel stuck his bottom lip out, giving dejected puppy dog looks. A small smile escaped Sam before he could stop it, “Aww, tin man has a heart” Gabriel was rewarded with a sigh and a roll of the eyes,

“You’re a five year old, go to sleep”

“You first” Gabriel smiled, he always did like messing with the young hunter. Cas could have Dean, he’s not much fun anyway. Sam gave another exasperated sigh and Gabriel just chuckled, “Here” He pat the spot on the queen sized bed next to him, “You need to sleep too, we’ll share. Then maybe I can trust you to transfer this precious cargo in that rickety old scrap car outside” Sam didn’t see the point in arguing, he knew the trickster would find a way to break his will anyway. He lay on the opposite edge of the bed with his back to Gabriel, “What? Have I got cooties or something?” Gabriel asked, starting to get offended at how Sam kept to himself. They were friends weren’t they? “Believe it or not, when I do sleep, I don’t appreciate being woken up when a moose falls off the side of the bed” Sam sighed and moved a little closer to the middle of the bed, putting a safe distance between him and the dangerous edge that would threaten him with a trip to the floor,

“Happy now?” He asked,

“Delighted” Gabriel turned the light off and both men sunk under the covers. Though they weren’t even touching, Gabriel found the heat radiating from Sam comforting. The weariness crept up on him and he soon fell asleep. He was snoring softly and when he had, Sam just rolled his eyes,

“So much for angels don’t sleep” He muttered to himself. He too invited sleep.

Meanwhile Dean had been with Cas all day. Sam was off helping Gabriel and Bobby was away on a case so it was only him. Cas wasn’t very happy when more people left. Dean wasn’t either, he was aware of the demons that had escaped and didn’t want to be alone if they came back. For that reason, he called up Jody,

“What’s up?” She answered,

“Hey Jody” Dean said, “Last night we had a demon attack, some demons escaped. Sam’s out and so is Bobby. If any were to come back, it’s only me and Cas so I was wondering if we could hide out at your place?”

“Yeah of course. Alex is away at a friend’s house so I’ve got room”

“Great, we’ll be right over” As Dean got off the phone, Cas was just sitting on the sofa, watching him. He had gotten a little clingy to Dean since everyone else left, not wanting to lose sight of the last person with him, “We’re heading to Jody’s house. Remember Jody? The woman you saw when you were flying?” Cas nodded, “Well, she’s got a couple teenagers with her, one’s away and the other actually knows you too” Cas nodded again. It felt awkward having no response, “How’s the wing?”

“It’s gone limp” Cas replied,

“Can you walk with it?”

“Yes but it will drag on the ground and that would be painful”

“Right. I’ll see if we can make a sling for it or something” Dean got up and headed into the other room. Cas craned his neck to watch him grab something from the shelf. He came back and went to take a hold of the wing when he looked at the bandage, “I think it’s too small” Dean sighed, “Maybe Jody will have something better, I’ll just carry you in” Dean mumbled and wandered into another room. Cas watched him closely as he came back out with a large tan trench coat. He wrapped him up in it to cover his wings before he picked him up and walked out the house with him. He put him in the classic black car that had been sitting outside the house untouched for days. The engine roared to life and Cas gasped, clamping his hands over his ears, no longer used to the noise car engines made. As the roar settled into a softer purr, Cas took his hands away from his ears and relaxed. As they drove along the roads, Cas looked out at the other cars and buildings wide-eyed. They were all so different to what he remembered. Huge forests and meadows yielded to towns and fields now, it was like nothing he’d ever seen or imagined. The buildings he had seen man create were wooden or dirt, this was stone and glass. And artificial light. He looked up at the street lights, wondering what sort of magic created them. Dean couldn’t help the smile as his friend’s eyes grew three times the size at something so normal. Finally they pulled up outside Jody’s house and Dean picked Cas out of the car and walked in with him, Jody greeted them at the door,

“Hey” She said, “Come in, Claire is in the kitchen if you want to say hello” Dean smiled, heading into the house. He clocked Claire leaning against the sink looking at them enter,

“Hey, it’s been a while” Dean smiled. Cas looked out over the trench coat that practically obscured him. When he did, Claire caught her first glimpse of him,

“What?” She gave a smirk, “Is that Cas?”

“Yeah” Dean looked down at him, “Hey Cas, this is Claire. She’s also a friend”

“Hello” Cas said with a wave,

“Hi” Claire couldn’t stop the smile on her face. It was so weird to see Cas like this, “Can he not remember?”

“No. He doesn’t know any of us except his brother Gabriel”

“How did that happen?”

“A witch” Dean sighed, “Oh, Jody, do you have a sling?”

“Yes, what for?”

“Cas got hurt during the demon attack last night” He set Cas down and unravelled the coat to reveal his bandaged wing. Claire moved into the living room to sit across from them, eyes a little wide as she was now seeing Cas’ wings for the first time, “Turns out the demon was an old friend of his”

“Ila is not a friend” Cas shook his head firmly,

“She’s… an older sister? From what I heard”

“She used to be an angel” Cas explained, “She was cast out of heaven and became a demon”

“Why was she after you?”

“She blames me for being cast out of heaven” Dean squinted at that and Cas gave him a similar hint as before,

“What was she? Some kind of bully?” Claire asked, not really serious,

“That’s not what I’d call her”

“She’s the one that gave you the scars” Dean finally put it together. Cas nodded, “Why?”

“They just got their angel blades that day. They wanted to test them out”

“Why you?”

“Because of my wings. Most are brown, grey or white. I was the only black”

“So kind of like angel racism” Clare said,

“I don’t know what that is” Jody came back with the sling and carefully moved the wing to sit in it. Cas winced as the wing moved and his other wing flapped impatiently as they moved the injured wing slowly into the sling,

“So what happened to you?” Claire asked Dean now,

“Well, Ila attacked with other demons. When the lights started flickering we put Cas in the iron bunker under Bobby’s house with demon traps but she broke them up. We came down, she set her demons on us and blocked the door to the bunker” Dean explained, “She’s dead but some other demons escaped and since it was just us at Bobby’s, I didn’t like those odds if they came back with reinforcements, I don’t think Cas could have pulled off that light show again without passing out” Cas shook his head,

“So where is everybody?” Jody asked,

“Well, Gabriel left to throw off any angels that were looking to take advantage of Cas’ current circumstances, got in trouble with an ‘old friend’ and Sam’s out trying to help him. Bobby got a call from Garth that couldn’t wait so he’s away on a case. And here we are” Cas may have been sitting awake but his face screamed sleep. His eyes started drooping. Dean waved a hand in front of his face, grabbing the angel’s attention, “You good? Not too tight?” Cas shook his head,

“No, it’s fine” Dean could see the sleep in his face,

“Hey Jody, you got a room for him?” Jody smiled warmly,

“Over here” Cas perked up as Dean lifted him up but didn’t protest as he was carried to a bedroom and tucked in. He fell asleep not long after.

In the morning, Sam was the first to wake up. He was always used to the early morning and dragged himself away from the warm sheets. He had temporarily forgotten about Gabriel and when he turned to the archangel still asleep he nearly screamed. The events of last night replayed in his head as a reminder. He calmed down and got ready as quietly as he could. Once it went ten in the morning Gabriel finally stirred, smiling as he watched the hunter putting away his first aid kit which he had left out from the night before. He bent down to pick up the pieces that fell out so his butt was sticking in the air. Gabriel smiled and gave a whistle that made Sam shoot up. He laughed at Sam's reaction then gave a sleepy yawn,

“Well” He sat up, fully clothed in clean clothes, “I’m ready when you are” Sam nodded, heading out to the car sitting outside. Gabriel sat in the passenger seat next to him. He immediately took charge of the radio and they sat listening to some songs. Nearly half an hour later, Gabriel was leaned against the window, bored out of his mind. Sam was still driving, not as fast as when he’d driven to Gabriel. Then the radio played a very familiar tune. Heat of the moment by Asia came on and Gabriel perked up immediately when it did. Sam shut the radio off completely, “Aww, come on. That was good times”

“Repeating the same day and watching your brother get brutally murdered a hundred times is not fun Gabriel”

“You have to admit some of those deaths were comical like the piano. How about the shower?” Sam sent a look Gabriel’s way, “Fine, I’m sorry I killed your brother over and over again” The car fell silent again until Gabriel switched the radio back on, catching the ending of the song. The radio cut to more music to fill the car as they drove on for another half an hour.

Gabriel woke up and they were still driving. He gave a long sigh,

“How much longer?” He asked,

“We’re heading into town now” Sam said, “Jody’s is just at the corner there” He could point the house out,

“What about Bobby’s?”

“Dean texted me. Bobby left for a case so Dean brought Cas here” Sam pulled up and knocked on the door. Jody answered and smiled,

“Come in” She said, allowing both men into her house. Dean, Claire and Cas were at the table eating breakfast, “Have you eaten yet?”

“No actually, we woke up and started driving”

“Sit down I’ll make you something” Jody seemed happy to have people to still make for. Dean and Sam were like two boys she just decided to adopt. Sam sat next to Dean at the table,

“So what happened to you?” Dean asked,

“Oh, Gabriel was hurt, I just patched him up”

“And just as we were driving back, what comes on the radio?” Gabriel smirked,

“Don’t” Sam shook his head, just as Gabriel started to sing,

“Heeeat of the moment” He smirked. Dean got that too and the smile wiped off his face. Claire gave the pair of them a look, as did Cas, “Inside joke”

“It ain’t funny dying over and over again” Dean said,

“Then you really should have seen some of those deaths” Gabriel mumbled. Cas shook his head, going back to his cereal. He was getting used to eating human food and cereal and milk seemed like a weird combination to him at first until he tried it.

“You don’t seem surprised by that” Dean commented to Cas,

“A lot of pranks Gabriel played on us could potentially be fatal to humans” Cas replied,

“Like what?” Gabriel shook his head,

“Dropping us in the Atlantic Ocean” Cas replied, “You pushed Anna into quicksand, dropped a snake on Lucifer’s lap”

“That’s harmless” Gabriel shook his head before he smirked, “And he squealed like a little girl”

“To us yes but to a human, one bite from that snake could have been deadly or the human could have drowned in the quicksand” Gabriel paused then nodded,

“I guess”

“You also left us in the desert for a day”

“That was not a day”

“You left us during the worst heat of the day to when the temperature dropped to below freezing at night just to prove a point”

“Half a day” Gabriel sighed, “And it did prove a point, you and Balthazar never wandered off on me again”

“There’s only so long you can watch a fish crawling up the beach before becoming interested in something else”

“Wait so you were gone for half a day and no one else noticed?” Dean asked,

“We were two fledglings in amidst hundreds and neither of us caused much trouble to be particularly memorable”

“You’re memorable” Gabriel shot back,

“To Michael I mean” Gabriel then noticed Cas’ wing pinned behind him.

“Ila do that?” Cas looked to where Gabriel pointed before nodding, “Bitch. Is she dead?”

“Yes, Dean killed her”

“Lucky I didn’t catch her”

“She came almost as soon after you left, she must have been waiting for you to go” Dean said.

“That seems to be her MO” Gabriel grumbled. He picked up Cas’ uninjured wing and showed it to Claire sitting next to Cas, pointing to the faint scars on the outside, “See that, Ila wouldn’t have dared if I was in heaven at the time. Though if I was there, she also wouldn’t have got an angel blade until her training demanded it” Cas pulled his wing out of Gabriel’s grasp and tucked it behind him again,

“I got an angel blade before I’d matured”

“That’s because you got attacked by a demon” Gabriel replied. Cas went back to eating his cereal and perked up as Gabriel undid the sling and spread the wing out. He hissed a little in pain while Gabriel ignored it and started to unwrap the bandage. He paused on seeing the stitches. The Winchesters swore there was a look of worry flash over the archangel’s face but it was quickly replaced with concentration. He checked the other side of the wing and noticed more stitching, “Right through” Gabriel mumbled. His hand glowed, bathing the dark feathers in a yellow light as it waved over one side of the wing, light making its way through the ing until it fully healed up. Once he was finished, Cas gave a little test flap on regaining movement in it before it folded back into his side.

“What happened to you?” Cas asked,

“Just an old rival” Gabriel shrugged it off. They all finished their breakfast and Claire gave a sigh,

“Well it’s been fun but I’ve gotta go” She said, slinking towards the exit,

“Where are you going?” Dean asked,

“Out. What’s it to you?” Dean recoiled, taken aback by the sudden hostility,

“Ooh” Gabriel smirked, “Suck it Dean” Dean stood up from the table, glaring at Gabriel. Gabriel immediately grabbed Cas from his seat and held him in front of him, “No, take him, he’s squishy” Cas’ wings fluffed in alarm at suddenly being picked up and he accidentally knocked a glass of water over,

“Gabriel” Cas grumbled. In the commotion Claire slipped out entirely, a smile on her face the whole time but she had another thought on her mind. A case. It was in town too so she didn’t have to hitchhike to get there. She wandered down the street, eyes watching the cars that passed her. She was relaxed and really only had one place in mind. She followed the familiar path to Jody’s cabin but once she reached it she didn’t go inside. She instead followed the tracks that led out of the building. It hadn’t rained so they were still a clear trail and she wandered on until she found another wooden cabin. She took her gun out, pausing at the door to listen in. There were no footsteps inside, no noise. She held her gun out just in case and wandered into the cabin silently. She was confronted with a large room that had a well stocked kitchen and a table that still had ingredients set out and a bowl with burnt contents in it. Claire only briefly looked at everything since she still needed to clear the house but it was evident that she was in the right place. The next room was a bedroom, the wardrobe was packed with clothes and a pair of high heels were strewn haphazardly across the floor. The bed was made meticulously of silk sheets and a night mask was on the bedside table next to the bed. Claire moved to the next room, a bathroom. The bathroom had a toothbrush in a cup by the sink, there was a dark purple bath towel on the side of the bath. The last place Claire needed to check was the basement. She wandered down the stairs, gun out in front of her where she found it empty too. She saw the chains left behind in a pile along with dark feathers. Claire finally relaxed and put her gun away,

“Cas” She murmured to herself as she picked one up. She didn’t know what happened exactly happened here, only that there was supposed to be a body around the house somewhere. Claire took a look at the boot prints that stained the floor, “Yep, sure looks like dumb and dumber were here” She looked up at the sound of movement. Claire’s expression slowly faded herself as she turned around and the chains were gone. She rushed up the stairs and the fully stocked kitchen was barren. The remnants of a spell were gone, just a solitary table stood in its place. Claire headed to the bathroom, no toiletries, no towels. In fact, there was no sink or shower or toilet. An old cracked bath remained. She turned to the bedroom now and the clothes were all gone, as were the shoes. There was no mattress there, nevermind the silk sheets or even the bedside lamps were gone. The whole cabin looked abandoned like it hadn’t been lived in for years despite everything there a couple seconds ago, “This isn’t good”

The house was peaceful again. Bobby was still out helping Garth and Dean was watching Dr Sexy MD. Cas was sitting on the sofa with Gabriel, both watching too. When Dr Sexy came on, Gabriel smirked,

“I pretended to be him” He said to Cas, “Dean had a fan boy freak out”

“I noticed he does that” Cas looked over to see the goofy smile on Dean's face. The pair went silent again until eventually Cas gave a sigh, “When will this spell wear off?” He asked,

“I don't know. Should be soon though” Gabriel said. Cas put his head on Gabriel's shoulder, “You hungry?” Gabriel knew it had been a while since he ate and led his brother to get something to eat. After lunch though they didn't have a lot to do. Cas grew bored pretty quickly, as did Gabriel. Nothing came of the two demons that escaped. Cas was lying face up on the couch and Gabriel was sitting next to him making impatient clicking noises and fidgeting, “You as bored as I am?” He asked Cas. Cas just sighed,

“Yes” He replied,

“Wanna do something?”

“Yes”

“Wanna go out?”

“Yes but I don't think that's a good idea”

“Why's that?”

“Because I have my wings out and I don't know how to hide them from the humans”

“Well we don't have to go somewhere where humans are” Cas sat up to look at Gabriel,

“Where do you suggest?” At that thought, a smirk went across Gabriel's face. Cas sat back a little, that smirk usually meant the same thing. Gabriel's up to something. He turned to face his brother, “What?”

“Remember when you were younger” Gabriel replied, “And you liked to see the sea” Cas was cautious as Gabriel's smirk had not lifted but he did nod, “You still want to see it?” Cas' interest peaked. On one hand he didn't trust Gabe but on the other, he wanted to know what he was up to. Slowly he nodded, an unsure eyebrow raised. In an instant Gabriel clicked his fingers and he was plunged into freezing water. Cas nearly gasped in surprise but held his breath and made it to the surface. There was nothing but blue water for miles, from horizon to horizon. He shivered slightly and looked around for Gabriel. Then he heard laughing above him. He looked up and Gabriel was floating on a block of ice, laughing loudly and before Cas could stop himself, he smiled. He lifted his hand up, using his other arm and legs to keep him afloat. Gabriel took his arm to pull him out but Cas had other ideas. He gave a huge tug on Gabriel, pulling him into the water with him. Gabriel was so surprised by this action that he couldn’t stop himself as he tumbled into the water, resurfacing with a gasp next to Cas. Cas was laughing now, a sweet genuine laughter which made Gabriel laugh with him. Their laughter attracted some attention. Cas swam quickly to Gabriel after four bodies resurfaced near them. Air blew out from the tops of their heads and Cas had no idea what they were, “It’s ok Cas, these are dolphins. They’re harmless”

“Really?” Cas looked at them in awe as they passed. A smaller dolphin came over and started to make noises that sounded similar to the laughing Cas and Gabriel had just been doing. Cas laughed back at it. The dolphin became excited when it’s noises were answered and leaped into the air over the two, “Wow” Cas followed its movements,

“You’re shivering kiddo” Gabriel commented,

“Yeah, it’s freezing” Cas replied but he didn’t seem to want to leave just yet. He dove down to see the younger dolphin making loops of bubbles and swimming through them. Cas started to follow the young dolphin and resurfaced every now and then for breath. Gabriel didn’t know what Cas was doing, he just saw his head surface every time he took a breath. The dolphins circled them playfully. Cas pet the closest one to him, “It’s really slippery” He said,

“Well yeah, they’re in water” Gabriel pulled Cas into him, “Come on, let’s get back now”

“Already?” He asked,

“You’re shivering. With this spell, you might catch a cold or something” A couple seconds later and they were back in Bobby’s living room, dripping wet. Cas is still in Gabriel’s arms smiling,

“What the hell happened to you?” Bobby asked. They’d been gone for about half an hour, Bobby must have come back from his hunt by then. Cas shivered again in Gabriel’s arms,

“The Atlantic. Got any towels?” Gabriel raised an eyebrow. Bobby just rolled his eyes and threw them a couple of towels. Gabriel finally put Cas down. The young fledgling’s wings were so full of water, they dragged on the ground with the weight. His clothes and hair clung to him and now after all the swimming, he was looking really tired. Gabriel was also soaked through but he was in better shape so he helped his younger brother to dry off. At some point Sam and Dean walked in with another hunter, Garth,

“What did we miss?” Dean asked with amusement in his voice,

“They went for a swim” Bobby replied, “In the Atlantic”

“How?” Garth asked,

“He's an archangel, they sort of just zap there and back” Dean said to him,

“That is awesome, you're an archangel?” Garth sounded as innocent as Cas and Gabriel just smiled, “I'm Garth Fitzgerald the fourth”

“Gabriel” He introduced himself, “This is my little brother, Cas”

“He got hit with a deaging spell” Dean said, “Cas doesn't normally look like this”

“I saw dolphins for the first time” Cas said matter-of-factly,

“Waw, you know, I haven't ever seen dolphins in person, what were they like?” Garth got down to Cas’ level to talk,

“Their skin was very slippery” Cas talked excitedly about the dolphins for ages and Garth listened to it all, asking questions and generally being very excitable about them. Gabriel headed over to Sam,

“Is he really a hunter?”

“I know, Dean worked with him while I was under a love potion”

“Aw Sammy” Gabriel pinched his cheek,

“Don't” Sam said and Gabriel laughed. Bobby came back into the room with some dry clothes for Cas to change into and Garth had to leave on another case, “Can I ask why you were swimming in the Atlantic Ocean?”

“It was just meant to be a prank” Gabriel smiled,

“A prank?”

“He always liked the sea growing up” Gabriel smiled, “Little punk pulled me in with him” It was getting late and Cas was tired. They only just got him into dry clothes before he fell asleep. Gabriel picked him up and put him on the couch where he'd been sleeping the past week.


	8. Chapter 8

Gabriel watched over his little brother through the night like always. He got up to go make himself something in the kitchen and when he went back into the living room, that eight year old boy was a fully grown man now. The lollipop in Gabriel’s mouth almost fell out when his jaw dropped. When it finally came into his head that the spell had worn off, another smirk appeared on his face. He nudged him awake again and Cas looked up at him,

“Gabriel?” He looked down at himself once he’d heard his own voice. The clothes he had worn were pretty much gone, the only thing to cover him were his wings that were three times the size they used to be and the blanket around him,

“Hey Cas, how’re you feeling?”

“I feel…” Cas looked down at himself, noting his vessel had grown again. The cramped feeling he had grown used to was relieved and it felt like he hadn’t been able to breathe until now, “Fine” He looked back up at Gabriel,

“You remember everything?” Cas nodded.

“I remember the apocalypse and that witch”

“Don’t worry, I got her before she escaped” Gabriel nodded, “Welcome back. You should probably get dressed” Gabriel turned and went into the spare bedroom where Sam and Dean were sleeping to grab Cas’ clothes. He had seen them bundled in a corner somewhere but when he turned around Cas was already mostly dressed. The only thing he wasn’t wearing was his shirt. His wings were in the way. He took a breath and Gabriel knew he was going to hide his wings again. Gabriel had hid and taken out his wings so many times it barely hurt for him but when he watched his brother do it, it seemed like torture. He wandered back to him, not even closing the door to the bedroom, “You don’t do this very often do you?” He went to him. Cas didn’t respond as the wince grew on his face. His wings folded tightly into his back. The pointed joint pushed back into his skin so hard it pushed through. As it pushed in, the rest of the wing followed suit and as Gabriel watched the jet black feathers disappear into his back, Cas stumbled forward and grabbed the doorframe of the kitchen. His breathing was erratic and Gabriel had to grimace at him. Castiel was almost silent though in the kitchen. His nails dragged across the wooden door frame leaving faint nail marks in the wood. He also grit his teeth as the final length of the flight feathers sunk into his back. He took a few more breaths as his back healed, blood dripped down his back from the wound before it closed up, “Yeah, Dean’s right. It is a scene right out of a horror movie” Cas was quiet again as he put his shirt and tie back on, looking relieved that the pain was over. Gabriel clicked his fingers and the light in the boys’ room turned on, waking them both up while Cas was putting his jacket and trench coat on.

“It’s 5 in the morning” Dean grumbled, “What are you doing?” Sam was already up,

“Cas?” He noticed Cas was up and about. When he said that, Dean slowly sat up and noticed Cas was back to normal again. He lay back down on the bed,

“Welcome back Cas” He called. Cas actually smiled when Dean did that,

“Yeah, how are you? You ok?” Sam asked. He was going to get up in an hours time anyway so he wasn’t going to bother sleeping again,

“Yeah” Cas nodded, “Back to normal”

“Now that that’s all fixed, see ya” Gabriel said before he peaced out,

“Goodbye” Cas nodded before he too disappeared,

“The guy just got back to normal and he’s already disappearing” Dean mumbled while still half asleep,

“Well, that’s just Cas” Sam got ready for his morning run and Dean lay in. Meanwhile, Cas managed to sneak into heaven. None of the angels actually noticed which wasn't anything new. Castiel had managed to sneak in a few times. He was sitting on a stone wall in someone's heaven and he watched the brown haired woman playing with a small scruffy dog. She was laughing and smiling with her much taller husband as their daughter ran around after the dog. The grass grew long around them and the girl’s dress and knees were picking up multiple green stains and dog hairs from the dog she was play-fighting. The woman sat under a tree, her head leaning on her husband's shoulder. He cradled one of her hands lovingly and her eyes lit up at the sight of him, smiling warmly. Cas said nothing and just silently watched the family before she took notice of him. When their eyes met, Cas looked down at his feet and she came over to him. She sat down on the wall beside him, her husband and daughter carrying on as if she hadn't wandered away from them. She smiled at him,

“Are you an angel?” She asked him. He paused, then looked up at her, “I know I'm dead. I'm in heaven” Castiel nodded,

“You are indeed in heaven” He replied,

“My name is Hillary” She held out her hand,

“I know” He shook it, “I'm Castiel” She gave a smile,

“You came to see me” She said, “I know you have. You want to know if I remember” She wasn't making much sense but instead she leaned over and hugged him, “I'm sorry” Cas stiffened and she straightened up, “I do remember being an angel and I remember what I did to you” Cas nodded,

“Why?” He asked,

“Ila was a close friend of ours. Whatever she did seemed fun and cool to me and Joel. Now, living as a human taught me how valuable life is and that day, we almost took yours. I'm glad you came, Castiel. I always hoped I could see you again and hopefully… ask for your forgiveness” She didn't look up at him, ashamed and scared of what he might say. Cas was taken by surprise at the amount of remorse Hillary had. He didn't even expect her to remember him. His head tilted at her until he realised she was expecting him to say something,

“You are forgiven” He replied. Hillary looked up surprised and excited. She happily hugged him again and this time, Castiel hugged her back. On that wall, Hillary talked with Castiel for ages about her human life and what happened to her and Castiel listened, fascinated. From the treeline, watching them stood the archangel again. He watched the two of them and smiled. He wandered along heaven, out of sight from anyone. It was there, he snuck into the garden. He wandered the Axis Monde and to the heart of the garden, taking in the brightly coloured flowers and the buzzing of bees around him. There, Joshua approached him,

“I knew you'd come back eventually” Joshua replied, “When you were ready”

“I'm not staying” Gabriel replied,

“No?” Joshua raised an eyebrow, “But you are thinking of coming out of hiding”

“I have for Castiel and the Winchesters” Gabriel said, “But I don't need the angels on my tail. They've gotten real aggressive without a proper leader”

“You don't have to tell me” Joshua said, “Will I see more of you?”

“Maybe” Gabriel nodded. He sighed, taking in the garden, “I just wanted to see it again”

“It is a wonder, I will agree” Joshua smiled, “But is that really why you came?”

“I need…” Gabriel paused and Joshua tilted his head, “I need to find our father”

“Well you won't find him here”

“I know, but you talk to him. Has he ever told you?”

“No” Joshua replied, “And if he had, he would have told me in confidence” Gabriel nodded,

“I suppose so”

“Can I ask why you need him?” Gabriel smirked,

“Not really” He said, “Until next time”

“Be safe Gabriel” Joshua nodded, pulling Gabriel in for a hug. Gabriel smiled, hugging back,

“You too. Goodbye”


End file.
